Bangladesh

/Tag: Bangladesh

 

27 12, 2024

For a climate-resilient urban future, we need empowered women

2025-12-11T13:39:37-05:00Tags: |

Farah Kabir, the country director of ActionAid Bangladesh, draws attention to the climate struggles faced by Bangladesh’s urban women. Bangladeshi women, who make up over half the population and are deeply affected by poverty, gender inequality, and limited resources, are at an increased disadvantage from climate-induced flooding, natural disasters, and sea level rise. Women and girls continue to face wage discrimination, health issues, malnutrition, and inadequate access to healthcare, hindering their resilience to climate impacts. Within densely populated areas experiencing increasing urbanization like Dhaka, Chattogram, Khulna, and Gazipur, strong measures to address heat-related issues that include gender-responsive adaptation pathways are critical. Kabir calls for an immediate phase-out of fossil fuels and the implementation of gender-sensitive urban planning, enhanced climate finance, and community-based interventions to build resilience and avoid the worst impacts. She also emphasizes that community resilience is enhanced through women’s empowerment in education, resource access, and participation in decision-making processes. To achieve this, urban institutions must be empowered, decentralized, and supplied with adequate budgets and disaggregated data. Government efforts integrating gender considerations into DRR and community resilience, like the Bangladesh Climate Change and Gender Action Plan (CCGAP) provide a framework, but stronger implementation and monitoring are needed. The article concludes with a call to provide funding sources and support women’s organizations and women’s leadership in local governance and climate initiatives with specific attention given to issues of urbanization and development.

11 12, 2024

Women, Girls Hardest Hit By Malnutrition

2025-12-04T01:31:59-05:00Tags: |

Gender injustice, one of the main drivers of malnutrition and hunger among women and girls, is deeply entrenched in domestic spaces, with inequalities being evident at the household level through food distribution inequality. Women and girls are often provided with less nutritious and inadequate food. They also suffer disproportionately from the effects of extreme weather events and climate-induced natural disasters. Reforms are needed at all levels, from individual to systems change, and from formal mechanisms to informal social and cultural change to integrate gender justice. Greater investment in promoting youth inclusion, gender equality, climate and food justice is necessary to guarantee the right to adequate and healthy foods to all people. Breaking the cycle of hunger requires community driven solutions, inclusive policies and climate resilience. Youth and marginalized groups must be empowered to design and govern food systems, ensuring no one is left behind.

13 08, 2024

How ‘woke’ marketing lets fast fashion brands get away with environmental and labour abuses

2025-04-09T22:22:56-04:00Tags: , , |

Fast fashion brands have increasingly been using "woke" marketing that targets women by promoting messages of feminism and environmentalism but, in reality, this often serves as greenwashing to obscure their harmful practices. These brands exploit gender stereotypes, positioning women as natural nurturers and caretakers and encouraging them to engage in "ethical" consumption as a way to make a positive impact. Instead of promoting sustainable behavior, such as reducing overall consumption, brands like H&M and Shein frame purchasing more products as a solution to environmental issues. This tactic of greenwashing is widespread across industries and seeks to shift the burden of environmental responsibility onto women while concealing the continued exploitation of female garment workers and the industry's contribution to environmental degradation. By using these greenwashing techniques, brands manipulate women into believing their consumption choices alone can drive change, diverting attention from systemic issues such as overproduction, waste, and labor abuses.

11 05, 2024

Salt In The Womb: How Rising Seas Erode Reproductive Health

2025-12-11T13:21:28-05:00Tags: |

Climate change has induced saltwater intrusion in Bangladesh, driving migration from rural to urban areas. Cyclones and sea-level rise threaten freshwater supplies in coastal zones and endanger livelihoods. In Satkhira, adaptation to saltwater intrusion has taken the form of shellfish farming, shifting from rice cultivation after rice paddies were submerged in saltwater during a storm. Combined with the expansion of shrimp and prawn farming, which thrive in saline water, leaching has contaminated underground water supplies and made water too salty to drink. Studies reveal that saltwater consumption has long-lasting negative effects on nearly every stage of a woman’s reproductive cycle, from menstruation to childbirth. Increased cases of high blood pressure, gestational hypertension, and preeclampsia have been reported in Dacope, which contribute to fetal loss and preterm delivery. Premature babies are further disadvantaged, as low birth weights are linked to poor development, cognitive impairment, cerebral palsy, and psychological disorders. Women’s reproductive health is also endangered through coping mechanisms such as washing cloth menstrual pads with saltwater, which fails to clean the cloth adequately and hardens the fabric, causing vaginal abrasions that lead to infection. The situation is worse for women working in aquaculture, as standing in saltwater every day can lead to chronic uterine infections and even uterine cancer. Doctors report rising patterns of infertility, irregular periods, pelvic inflammatory disease, and hysterectomies among women over the age of 40. With roughly 40% of the world’s population living along coastlines, there is an urgent need for expanded epidemiological research on saltwater intrusion and reproductive health across diverse geographical regions, as more than 100 countries are at risk. Because technological equipment for managing saltwater intrusion is expensive, preventive measures are far more effective than attempting to implement fixes after the fact.

16 11, 2023

Burning Coal to Survive Climate Change

2025-11-07T15:26:44-05:00Tags: |

In coastal Bangladesh, women are on the frontlines of a movement resisting the Maitree Super Thermal Power Project—a massive new coal plant built, paradoxically, to fund the country's climate adaptation efforts. Led by activists like Fatima Zannat, who works in cyclone preparedness, local women are protesting the plant's threat to their health, livelihoods, and the vital Sundarbans mangrove forest. They argue that the plant, located near the fragile UNESCO heritage site they call their 'mother' for its storm protection, will poison their air and water, destroy fisheries, and force them from their land. While the government, led by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, promotes the plant as a path to economic progress, the protesting women demand community-led solutions and an end to top-down industrial projects that exacerbate environmental injustice. Their resistance highlights a critical global dilemma where the most climate-vulnerable communities bear the immediate costs of the fossil fuel projects intended to pay for their protection.

11 06, 2023

Women’s Action Towards Climate Resilience for Urban Poor in South Asia

2025-06-11T23:34:54-04:00Tags: , , |

The India-based NGO Mahila Housing Sewa Trust (MHST) operates across South Asia, with programs in Bangladesh, India, and Nepal that aim to support low-income women and their households in boosting their climate resilience. MHST's initiatives use an integrated model to organize and uplift these women, providing them with knowledge, leadership skills, and training to adapt to growing climate impacts. To date, the project has trained 1,500 local women to become ‘Climate Saathis,’ who educate local communities about climate change, adaptation, vulnerability and risk assessment, and implementing localized resilient solutions. By employing a women-led model, MHST focuses on local mitigation efforts addressing key climate impacts such as heat stress, water security, vector-borne diseases, and flooding—potent dangers already affecting women and the urban poor.

16 05, 2023

Ecofeminism in Architecture: Empowerment and Environmental Concern

2025-05-24T18:39:56-04:00Tags: , , |

Camilla Ghisleni explores the concept of ecofeminism in architecture, highlighting female architects who are creating inclusive change within the field. The article begins by presenting the concept of how ‘othered’ both women and nature are when perceived through a male, patriarchal lens. Landscape architect Elizabeth Meyer has noted how in these male-centered societies, women and other marginalized communities are excluded. As a retaliation to this dichotomy, ecofeminism, a term created by Françoise d’Eaubonne around 1974, combines the ideologies of feminism and seeks to present holistic structures and worldviews that include regard for natural systems and connections. A key principle of ecofeminism is its emphasis on the disproportionate impacts women face concerning climate change. A UN report found that women are more often reliant upon natural resources due to their lack of financial wealth in comparison to men. Furthermore, they bear the brunt of the workload when it comes to child rearing and care for the elderly. This being said, architect Yasmeen Lari is making change for women as her work in improving the Pakistani chulah, an outdoor stove, by creating a cheaper and healthier alternative for women. These stoves are smokeless and are built on raised platforms which shield them from flood damage and create more sanitary and ventilated environments. Another project incorporating ecofeminsim is the Anandaloy Center for People with Disabilities in Bangladesh, which draws largely on women’s labor with earth and bamboo. Sustainability must go beyond technical dynamics and necessitates the inclusion of cultural, gendered, and economic dynamics.

7 05, 2023

In Coastal Bangladesh, Climate Change Devastates Women’s Reproductive Health

2025-03-06T00:45:04-05:00Tags: |

Satkhira is a southwestern region of Bangladesh in which the majority of residents rely on local rivers to survive. However, these crucial freshwaters are being contaminated by salt water from the nearby Bay of Bengal as a consequence of rising sea levels and increasing occurrences of natural disasters like floods and cyclones. While the entire community relies on rivers and ponds for drinking, eating, and bathing, the increased exposure to salt water is disproportionately impacting women and exacerbating pre-existing gender inequalities. Fatima Idris Eva, a local medical professional, reports witnessing these impacts firsthand, noting a growing number of women suffering from reproductive health issues—particularly those working long hours fishing and cleaning in wet conditions. Asma Akhter is one of these many women, having needed a hysterectomy following the birth of her child due to issues which doctors have attributed to salt water exposure. According to local midwife Shefali Bibi, Akhter is not alone in this, with countless women experiencing pregnancy complications and requiring abortions for the same reason. If action is not taken, scientists estimate that almost 20% of Bangladesh may be submerged by 2050, with women impacted first and worst by the consequences of this. 

2 12, 2021

How Bangladesh Is Beating The Odds On Climate Disaster Deaths

2025-03-06T00:57:44-05:00Tags: |

Bangladesh has faced numerous climate disasters over the years, such as cyclones, droughts, and floods. Disasters like the 1970 Cyclone Bhola caused up to 500,000 deaths. However, Bangladesh has since reduced cyclone-related mortality by over 100 fold.  This article outlines a research initiative to discover how high-risk countries like Bangladesh are able to mitigate disaster-related deaths. One finding was that Bangladesh sets aside a greater portion of its money for the purpose of responding to climate-related issues compared to other developing countries, with over 7% of the country’s national budget being designated for climate change from 2021-2022. Another key effort made by Bangladesh has been increasing monitoring efforts, now having over 50 weather stations and radars, as well as communication efforts with effective targeted text messages and disaster alerts to allow preparation for these disasters. Deaths have been further reduced by an increasing number of female volunteers who aid in evacuation and sheltering procedures. Improvements and creation of new shelters have also reduced mortality by 75% between 1990 and 2015, with these shelters accommodating separate female and male areas as well as areas for animals. However, climate change continues to drastically impact Bangladesh through destroying livelihoods in terms of displacement, economic losses and crop failures which will require additional efforts to prevent and mitigate.

23 09, 2021

Caste and Climate Change

2025-03-27T16:37:46-04:00Tags: , , , , |

Caste-oppressed women in India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Nepal suffer from the silent violence of segregation and discrimination, putting them at extreme risk from the climate crisis. Dalits, members of the most oppressed caste, are more vulnerable to climate-related impacts because of their marginalized social position, the locations of their home in the periphery of communities, being historically limited to hazardous occupations, and lack of land rights. Dalit women are even more vulnerable. They are systematically excluded and oppressed, lagging in many human development markers, and lacking equal resources putting them at a higher chance of being subjected to multiple forms of violence. More than 15 Dalit women and girls are raped and sexually assaulted every day, as of what is reported. A woman’s caste position increases her risk of mortality due to a lack of sanitation and water. Dalit women die, on average, 14.6 years before dominant caste women. Climate change is exacerbating these existing vulnerabilities as resources, such as water, become scarce. In rural areas, the dominant castes are not allowing Dalit women to use government-provided hand pumps to access water, assaulting those who do amid a water crisis. Dalit women furthermore lack legal and community protection, making them extremely vulnerable to climate stressors.

13 04, 2021

No Woman No Water: Empowering Women To Be Water And Sanitation Decision-Makers

2021-04-13T17:45:00-04:00Tags: |

Women are responsible for carrying water home, storing it, and managing household supplies but are still ignored when it comes to important water management decisions. Incorporating women’s voices into water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) issues empowers the women themselves while simultaneously leading to better results. For instance, including women in the movement to curtail open defecation in rural Bangladesh led to success because the specific needs and desires of the women were then met. Specifically, because of this input, the toilets that were to be placed in rural communities were designed with gender specific needs in mind as well as placed in locations amenable to local women. Photo Credit: Dilip Banerjee

16 11, 2020

Study: Female members of coastal fishing households lack empowerment

2024-02-26T09:19:56-05:00Tags: |

In the coastal villages of Cox's Bazar, Bhola, and Bagerhat districts in Bangladesh, female members of fishing households face significant challenges in political empowerment and economic participation. COAST Trust, a national NGO, conducted a study revealing that women involved in fish processing earn 25% less than their male counterparts, lack decision-making power in family matters, and experience violence. Despite their contributions, women's roles in the fishing sector remain unrecognized. Saleha Islam Shantona, a leader in the garment workers' sector, advocates for women's rights in the fisheries industry. The study calls for policy changes to recognize and involve women's participation in fisheries programs, ensure their inclusion in decision-making, and address discrimination. By highlighting the disproportionate impacts of climate change on women and promoting gender equality, the study aligns with climate justice principles and emphasizes the need for inclusive and sustainable solutions. Photo Credit: N/A  

15 10, 2018

The Power of Rural Women To Reduce Global Food Insecurity And Cut Emissions

2020-11-20T17:58:24-05:00Tags: |

Santona Rani, President of the Rajpur Women’s Federation, is working to increase climate and community resilience in her flood-prone area of Tajpur, Lalmonirhat in northern Bangladesh. Climate change is increasing the detrimental effects on crops and productivity. Her organisation is made up of twenty groups that work to assist 500 vulnerable and marginalized women. It works alongside ActionAid’s Promoting Opportunities for Women Empowerment and Rights (POWER) to boost independence through sustainable agriculture that fosters climate resilience. They also work to address the unjust gender roles that exist within the society; aiming to increase income and recognise the amount of work women do, provide training around leadership, women’s rights, financial aspects, sustainable farming and communication skills, as well as endeavour to prevent violence against women. Their work is community based, and involves interactive theatre shows, informative leaflets, and a seed bank and grain store that protects against the damages of flooding or natural disasters. Photo credit: ActionAid.

7 08, 2017

Rising Seas Are Flooding Bangladeshi Farms With Salt Water

2017-09-03T21:05:29-04:00Tags: |

Island farmers in the Bay of Bengal, particularly women, such as Shondha Rnai and Rokya Begum, express concerns over their farmlands. Their farms are threatened by rising sea levels, lack of freshwater, and saltwater intrusion from neighboring shrimp farms. The water crisis is resulting in loss of agricultural productivity, conversion of rice paddies to shrimp farms and most importantly, forced migration. Photo credit: Eduardo Garcia Gil

25 04, 2017

Bangladesh’s Water Crisis: A Story Of Gender

2017-08-26T13:52:56-04:00Tags: |

In the last 35 years, Bangladesh has witnessed an increase in groundwater salinity by about 26%. Most activities related to water use and fetching are women’s work Bangladesh, and with water sources either drying up or becoming saline due to climate change, the already back-breaking work of looking for water by women continues to increase. Women and children on Bangladesh’s coast are increasingly contracting water-borne diseases, in addition to suffering from pregnancy-related conditions such as preeclampsia and hypertension, resulting from higher levels of salty water intake. Khadija Rahman, who lives on Bangladesh’s southwest coast, tells her story. Photo credit: Neha Thirani Bagri

21 04, 2017

Environmentalists Slam Planned Bangladesh Power Plants Near Protected Sundarbans

2017-11-12T18:48:39-05:00Tags: |

Environmental groups from around the world (Climate Action Network, Timberwatch, Global Forest Coalition, and Friends of the Earth International) have joined together to protest the development of a coal power plant near the Sundarbans forest of Bangladesh. They believe the development would endanger women’s lives, irreparably damage the mangrove forest’s ecosystem, and threaten the livelihood of millions—including farmers, fishers, and forest dwellers. Displacement (due largely to the power plant’s construction) positions local women to live with an increased risk of gender-based violence, prostitution, and trafficking.

26 10, 2016

Driven To Dhaka By Climate Change Disasters, Bangladeshi Girls Harassed Into Marriage

2017-10-26T00:12:38-04:00Tags: |

Driven into cities after losing land, farms and crops due to climate change disasters, poor Bangladeshi families, in fear of sexual harassment, bad reputation and loss of honor for the family, marry off their girls at an early age, explains Shahana Siddiqui, a gender specialist at Dhaka’s BRAC University. This short documentary approaches two 14-year-old girls, originally from villages in Jamalpur, whose families had to migrate to the capital after they lost their farms to natural disasters. Watch the film to know more about Brishti and Razia, one already married and divorced and the other trying to postpone her marriage as much as she can, despite her father’s wishes. Photo credit: Thomson Reuters Foundation

26 06, 2016

Hit Hard By Climate Change, Women In The Sundarbans Turn To Photography

2017-09-04T12:17:03-04:00Tags: , |

A group of 80 rural Bangladeshi women have taken up photography to illustrate the burdens of climate change on their communities in their remote coastal forested home of Sundarbans. Their photographs show vibrant colors, starkly contrasted with dangerous narratives of potable water shortages, malnutrition, and lack of healthcare, hygiene and sanitation resources. Through their photography, these women have exposed daily realities, and their work raising awareness of the catastrophic effects that climate change is having on their home. Their photographs are also being used to improve infrastructure and amenities in negotiation processes with authorities. Photo credit: Koan Collaboration

13 06, 2016

Women As A Force Of Disaster And Climate Resilience: Bangladesh Perspective

2017-11-01T12:31:29-04:00Tags: |

Palash Mondal, Team Leader of the Building Resilience of the Urban Poor (BRUP) Project at CARE Bangladesh, discusses the contributions of women in the face of climate resilience. The CARE initiative in Bangladesh sees women playing a transformational role on the forefront of social, economic and environmental hardships. CARE implements actionable resilience towards climate and disaster risk management in Bangladesh, thus playing a paramount role in the management, conservation and utilisation of natural resources. Photo credit: CARE

4 04, 2016

Women’s Rights Undercut By Bangladesh Water Crisis

2017-07-12T19:42:35-04:00Tags: |

Chandrika Banarjee is the director of the Bengali NGO Women’s Uplifting Organisation, which focuses on the health and environmental rights of women in southern Bangladesh. She discusses how the coastal water crisis in her country impacts women's health and economic opportunities. Photo credit: Indranil Mukherjee/AFP

25 03, 2016

Bengali Women March To Save Asia’s Largest Mangrove Forest

2017-07-11T18:06:58-04:00Tags: |

In Bangladesh, the Rampal Coal plant was slated to extend over almost 2000 acres of fertile farming land, fish ponds, and the fragile Sundarban mangrove forest, which protects this low-lying nation from rapid sea level rise. Umma Habiba Benojir, a student leader at Dhaka University, and hundreds of other people, many women, marched hundreds of kilometers to protest the coal plant. Photo credit: Mowdud Rahman

14 12, 2015

Rising Sea, Rising Strength

2017-11-01T12:51:47-04:00Tags: |

Marina Parvin, a researcher using feminist participatory-action methodologies, collaborated with women including Aneema Rani Muda to investigate climate change adaptation strategies and policy responses among the Munda Indigenous people of Shyamnagar, Bangladesh. These Indigenous communities, especially women, are suffering the most due to dependence on natural resources. Bangladesh emits 44 times less carbon dioxide than the United States, yet is feeling the brunt of climate impacts such as erosion and sea level rise. To fight climate change, these women are adapting strategies such as rainwater harvesting and hanging gardens, and to generate a source of income, they have started crab farm. One of the Munda women, Rajkumari Munda, was even selected as a member of the Village Policing Committee. Photo credit: Asia Pacific Forum on Women and Development

2 12, 2015

Women And Climate Change: The View From Bangladesh

2017-09-13T10:25:49-04:00Tags: , |

In this interview with Dr. Sharmind Neelormi, steering group member and the Asian coordinator of GenderCC, the Bangladeshi expert on climate justice expresses concern for the lack of attention given to poor women who are disproportionately vulnerable to the effects of climate change. In particular, she calls for more action by national governments who continue to neglect this vital issue.  Photo credit: Proggna Paromita Majumder

29 09, 2015

Women Are Taking Charge In Bangladesh – From The Grassroots To Government

2017-07-20T19:01:17-04:00Tags: |

Bangladesh has more women in top political positions than any other country, thanks to investments in health, education and women’s leadership. For example, Rani Mondal benefited from a small loan and training which allowed her and her friends to start a crab business, giving her the financial security to protect her family in case of flooding or other climate-related disasters. Others, such as Sheheh Parvin, sit on local committees to manage communal natural resources, while Sheikh Hasina is the country’s two-time Prime Minister. Photo credit: Anna Ridout  

12 08, 2015

Climate Change Is Giving Child Marriage A Boost

2017-07-11T17:42:41-04:00Tags: |

A report by Human Rights Watch shows that in some areas affected by climate change, young girls are feeling social pressure to marry for security. For example, floods and cyclones increase the salinity of soils in coastal agricultural areas like Bangladesh's fragile Sundarbans mangrove forest, which depresses crop production and leads to malnutrition, poverty and out-migration. Young girls like Sultan are encouraged to marry young, "before their houses are swept away." Photo credit: Reuters  

15 12, 2012

Naoya Sakam Group Of Women Plants Trees Collectively

2017-12-15T12:35:54-05:00Tags: |

The Naoya Sakam Gonogobeshona group Adarpara, Godagari of Rajshahi in Bangladesh has taken up collective efforts to re-orest the land in and around their communities, starting with their homes and public spaces such as roads sites and cemeteries. The women are also uniting for vital conversations about women’s relationship to the environment and role in helping balance the Earth’s systems, and the connections between gender and climate change. Work has been carried out in collaboration with Research Initiatives Bangladesh (RIB) and Global Alliance for Green and Gender Action (GAGGA).  Photo credit: Research Initiatives Bangladesh

15 12, 2012

Puspo Murmu Is Keen To Preserve Environmental Biodiversity

2017-12-15T12:39:37-05:00Tags: |

Puspo Murmu is an Indigenous Santal woman of Saltola village, Bangladesh who has transformed what was once a degraded plot into a flourishing home ecosystem. Puspo notes how many of the biodiverse local trees that she has planted have distinct medicinal, cultural, survival and livelihood uses. Her and her community members also reflect on how Puspo’s work has brought diverse communities of birds and other animals back to the area. Photo credit: Research Initiatives Bangladesh

30 10, 2011

Sharmind Neelormi – Gender Justice And Global Climate Change Research Network Interview

2017-10-30T20:56:52-04:00Tags: |

Sharmind Neelormi, an Associate Professor at Jahangirnagar University in Dhaka, argues in this interview with the Gender Justice and Global Climate Change Research Network that to create meaningful climate policy, it is important to include women and marginalized people. Neelormi works on action-oriented research, reviewing climate change papers with a gender lens and advocating for the rights of female farmers with special focus on food security. She is also promoting gender-sensitive adaptation strategies at the community level and plays an active role in Gender CC. According to her, capacity-building and education are sure to promote sustainability. Photo credit: Rock Ethics Institute

27 10, 2009

Rizwana Hasan Leads Legal Fight To Protect Bangladesh Marine Ecosystems

2017-10-27T16:27:09-04:00Tags: |

Rizwana Hasan is a recipient of the 2009 Goldman Prize, from Asia, more specifically, Bangladesh. Hasan is an environmental attorney who led a legal fight about the issues of ship breaking, a common practice in her country, including toxic contamination of the waters and health threats for the thousands of workers in this industry. Hasan is the executive director of the public interest law firm Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association. Photo credit: The Goldman Environmental Prize.

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