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Seminar Series: Abstract

1:00
March 02 2009
Seminar Room C

Women and decision making: Do reserved seats make a difference in local government in Bangladesh?
Bushra Chowdhury

PhD Candidate, School of Social

In 1997 Bangladesh introduced a new quota system at the local government level - 25 percent of seats were to be reserved for women, with direct elections. Since the enactment of the law there have been two elections to the Union Parishad (UP), the lowest tier in local government, in 1997 and in 2003. In the first election alone, more than 12,000 women were directly elected to the UP under this provision. An equal number of women were elected in the 2003 election. In reality, however, the election of women to UP under the new provision did not automatically translate into a rise in their political skills or gender awareness (Frankl: 2004). Hence, even when women are elected to the local government, they are often unable to make any substantive contribution to gender sensitive policy formulation. In recent years, while the significance of the state has diminished, the role of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) has increased in most developing countries (Haque: 2002). NGOs in Bangladesh have a 30-year history of contributing to different aspects of development. Most work for poverty alleviation but some are involved in training women to contest local government elections and to be effective elected officials (Pandey: 2008). My paper will examine the following questions-

• Whether NGOs play a significant role in raising gender awareness among women candidates?

• Whether, if it can be shown that women do make a difference in the Union Parishad, it is the role of NGOs that is the enabling factor?

• Whether NGOs facilitate election of women from lower socio-economic status?

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