Abstract:
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The purpose of this study was to delve into the research questions: 1) Do
women leaders help promote governance in the Union Parishad (UP) of Bangladesh?
If so, how?; and 2) How have women leaders perceived and defined their roles and
coped with the realities in the UP? The objectives were to: 1) unravel the leadership
process of the women leaders in the UP; 2) uncover the perceptions, dynamics,
realities, and challenges of participation of women leaders in the UP of Bangladesh;
and 3) explore the coping strategies of women leaders in the UP. This study was
based on qualitative methods. To fulfill the research questions and objectives, case
study and phenomenology were used, which were substantiated by FGDs, content
analysis, and observation methods. Primary data were collected from 19 UPs covering
different socio-cultural zones of Bangladesh.
The study revealed that the women’s leadership in the country developed
through various socio-cultural, political, economic, and legal contexts, and structures.
Liberal values, democratic movements, the positive role of education and women’s
organizations, etc., helped women’s leadership to flourish. Empirical evidence
showed that in the UP some women leaders (WLs) were the product of the family
legacy, while some WLs emerged as leaders using social capital gained through NGO
involvement. Most of the WLs were moderately educated; all were married and
received the required family support. The socio-economic condition of the women
Chairpersons was relatively better compared to the women members in the UP. The
WLs were found to be sympathetic to women’s interests. With a strong community
mind some women leaders emerged as supra-social workers in the UP.
The WLs have been struggling to ensure their participation in the UP during
the last two decades. WLs have identified 3 major challenges in their participation in the UP: male domination, corruption, and faulty legal provision. Following some
formal and informal strategies, some of the WLs were able to overcome their
problems of participation. Having ensured their limited rights, some WLs contributed
to governance in the UP through ensuring transparency, accountability, enhancing
social justice, and expanding pro-poor benefits. The WLs were also able to change
rural governance by instilling a culture of integrity, honesty, sincerity, commitment,
and following a participatory management style in the UP.
To overcome the challenges of the participation of the WLs in the UP, among
several recommendations cited in the study, a few are suggested here. 1) The
problems of patriarchy, purdah, religious superstitions, etc., can be addressed through
the expansion of education facilities and democratic governance with a view to
changing the value system. 2) In strengthening the women’s role in the UP, the
existing political parties should introduce a quota system for women. 3) To manage
the autocratic rule of the male Chairman and members, the UP structure should be
reorganized with one woman Vice-Chairman. To combat male domination and
corruption, the women’s reservation quota can be raised from 33% to 50%. To ensure
equal rights for the male and female members, necessary legal provision is needed. 4)
As women are sympathetic to women’s interests, in order to expand the role of
women, 60% of all of the safety net programs at the UP level should be allocated to
them. 5) To enlarge the scope of the participation of WLs, one-third of the total
Chairmanship positions should be reserved for the women Chairpersons in all of the
UPs in Bangladesh and these positions should be changed every five years. 6) To be
WLs in the UP, family support is needed. Therefore, to translate such family support a
“child care home” can be introduced at the community level for taking care of the
children of the WLs during their work time in the UP. 7) WLs with a low level of
education perform excellently and emerge as supra-social workers with a strong
community mind. Therefore, efforts should be made to create a congenial atmosphere
by the elected and appointed functionaries relating to UP governance.
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