State Minister for Planning Dr Shamsul Alam on Wednesday said that gender sensitivity would be considered with more importance while framing development
projects in the coming days.
"Gender budget is now prevailing in some 44 ministries and divisions following positive response in framing gender budget. Such budget has increased by 25-34 percent, but it has to be looked into whether such increase is bringing real
development," he said.
The State Minister was addressing a function as the chief guest at a function where the findings of a research on "Gender Budget Monitoring" were unveiled before the policymakers and other stakeholders held at CIRDAP Auditorium in the capital, said a press release.
Organized jointly by the Bangladesh Mohila Parishad and South Asian Network on Economic Modeling (SANEM), Bangladesh Mohila Parishad President Dr Fauzia Moslem presided over the function while Bangladesh Mohila Parishad general secretary Maleka Banu and SANEM executive director Dr Salim Raihan gave the address of welcome.
SANEM research director and Dhaka University Economics Department Prof Dr Saima Haque Bidisha presented the research findings.
Senior research fellow of the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) Taufiqul Islam Khan and senior reporter of DBC Ishrat Jahan Urmi spoke as special guests.
Speaking on the occasion as the chief guest, Dr Shamsul Alam said that around 50 percent of the budget is now gender sensitive which is a very good progress.
He said equal allocation would not ensure equity, rather the context of male and female are different which demands for conducting research.
The State Minister also opined that the mass media can play a vital role in creating public demand for preparing gender budget monitoring report.
