VZCZCXRO6523
PP RUEHAST RUEHBI RUEHCI RUEHDBU RUEHLH RUEHNEH RUEHPW
DE RUEHKA #1057/01 3272346
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 232346Z NOV 09
FM AMEMBASSY DHAKA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 9688
INFO RUCNCLS/ALL SOUTH AND CENTRAL ASIA COLLECTIVE
RUEHGO/AMEMBASSY RANGOON 2947
RHHMUNA/CDR USPACOM HONOLULU HI
RHHJJPI/PACOM IDHS HONOLULU HI

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 DHAKA 001057 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR S/GWI, SCA/INSB 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KWMN PREL PGOV EAID ECON EAGR GTIP BG
SUBJECT: WOMEN'S ISSUES AMBASSADOR MARKS BANGLADESH'S PROGRESS AND 
REMAINING OBSTACLES 
 
Summary 
------- 
 
¶1.  (SBU) The recent visit to Dhaka by Ambassador-at-Large for 
Global Women's Issues Melanne Verveer highlighted the need for 
Bangladesh's leaders to work together more cohesively to further 
advance the status of women here.  Ambassador Verveer's meetings 
with government officials, civil society leaders and businesswomen 
demonstrated that women's lives have greatly improved in the last 30 
years.  However, efforts are still needed to protect women's rights 
and enforce legal protections for women, increase economic 
opportunities, improve health conditions and foster political 
empowerment.  Ambassador Verveer found no dearth of ideas for 
addressing these challenges; one of the main obstacles to progress 
on women's issues appears to be a lack of cohesion among the many 
actors working on women's issues. 
 
Opposition leader outlines past progress 
------------------------------ 
 
¶2.  (SBU) Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women's Issues Melanne 
Verveer visited Bangladesh November 10-12 and discussed the status 
of women with a range of actors, including government officials, 
Parliamentary leaders, members of civil society, aid beneficiaries 
and businesswomen.  (NOTE: We will report septel on meetings with 
the Prime Minister and Foreign Minister.  END NOTE.)  Begum Khaleda 
Zia, Leader of the Opposition and head of the Bangladesh Nationalist 
Party (BNP), outlined the progress made on women's issues while she 
was Prime Minister from 1991 to 1996 and from 2001 to 2006. 
 
¶3.  (SBU) After Ambassador Verveer noted the creativity and 
innovativeness of Bangladesh's civil society, including 
non-governmental organizations like BRAC and Grameen, Begum Zia 
responded that employment and education opportunities for women and 
girls in Bangladesh increased under her leadership.  She noted that 
education was an important tool for preventing child marriage, which 
is still a significant problem in Bangladesh.  Providing food 
incentives such as rice and wheat to poor families to keep their 
daughters in school was a unique way to address the problem.  She 
also mentioned technical training institutes for girls that started 
under her regime.  She listed more jobs and health care as her top 
priorities for women.  Ambassador Verveer and Begum Zia also 
discussed global climate change and food security, including USG 
initiatives in these areas; they agreed women could play a strong 
role in addressing climate change and food security in Bangladesh. 
Begum Zia's colleagues pointed out that if problems related to 
natural disasters, climate change, and starvation persisted, how 
could we focus on women's empowerment?  On climate change, they 
lamented the lack of preparedness for earthquakes in Bangladesh. 
They also noted that they are looking to their developed partners 
for technical assistance on climate change. 
 
Women MPs welcome a greater political role 
----------------------------- 
 
¶4.  (U) At a lunch with women Members of Parliament, Ambassador 
Verveer listened to the stories of the legislators, most of whom 
were serving in Parliament for the first time.  One MP from the 
opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party spoke movingly about her 
experience transitioning from the "kitchen to Parliament," noting it 
was the first time she was speaking to a crowd like this.  She ran 
in her husband's place, since he was ineligible to run, but her tale 
showed she was more than just a figurehead.  She described how she 
took her experience discussing politics over the kitchen table with 
family members and constituents and translated that into a 
successful campaign for Parliament.  Verveer urged the MPs to use 
their shared experiences as women to forge ties across political 
parties so that they could work together on issues of importance to 
women including education, health and economy. 
 
USG contributing to women's health care 
--------------------------- 
 
¶5.  (U) Ambassador Verveer highlighted the importance of maternal 
and child health in development when she visited a community health 
clinic supported by the U.S. Agency for International Development 
(USAID).  At the Smiling Sun clinic, one of 319 such clinics 
throughout Bangladesh, Ambassador Verveer met mothers with their 
newborn babies, born by Caesarian section.  Clinics like Smiling Sun 
ensured that women with high-risk pregnancies had a better chance of 
delivering healthy babies, Verveer observed.  Verveer also discussed 
how the clinics community health workers could do more to educate 
mothers about preventive health measures and explored ways to reach 
out to the vast majority of women who actually are not served by 
clinics or hospitals and are usually confined to home deliveries. 
 
 
DHAKA 00001057  002 OF 003 
 
 
Progress needed on women's rights 
--------------------------------- 
 
¶6.  (SBU) Civil society leaders told Ambassador Verveer that while 
Bangladesh had made great strides in improving the lot of women, 
much more needed to be done to guarantee womens' rights here.  At a 
roundtable discussion with leaders from human rights 
non-governmental organizations, the leaders agreed that the legal 
framework protecting women was strong in Bangladesh.  Enforcement of 
these laws was weak, however, according to round table participants. 
 Many of the participants agreed that there was a serious lack of 
political will and the judiciary and police needed reform.  They 
noted that the government needed to be held accountable and more 
women were needed in politics at the local level.  They said many 
women lacked access to the judicial system and must rely on informal 
arbitration by village officials who might be uneducated or 
prejudiced. Many pointed out that family laws needed to be modified 
and noted the challenges in implementing certain articles of UN 
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against 
Women (CEDAW). 
 
¶7.  (SBU) Representatives of labor groups told Ambassador Verveer 
that Bangladesh's booming apparel industry provided many job 
opportunities, but wages and working conditions remained 
unacceptable.  Workers often had no maternity leave, no set minimum 
wage and faced sexual harassment.  There were only a few unions in 
the garment industry and if they exist, since they were headed by 
men, it was very challenging for women to receive assistance.  The 
labor leaders said garment workers lacked adequate representation, 
which made it easy for individuals with political or criminal 
motives to stir up worker unrest.  According to the labor code, 
unions have to register with the government to form a labor union, 
which the government is often reluctant to accept. According to the 
activists, another challenge in addressing these injustices is that 
the government and factory owners are often the same, since over 
thirty members of Parliament own garment factories. 
 
¶8.  (SBU) Roundtable participants were short on ideas for ways civil 
society could mobilize to achieve more progress on women's rights; 
they merely said the GOB needed to do more.  The head of a shelter 
for trafficked women and children did praise the GOB for its 
commitment to tackling trafficking in persons as the national and 
local level. 
 
Grameen Bank continues its success 
---------------------------------- 
 
¶9.  (SBU) A visit to Grameen Bank proved that micro-credit continues 
to thrive in Bangladesh.  Ambassador Verveer met with more than 30 
women and students, including young men, who had transformed their 
lives thanks to Grameen credit.  Many of the previously-destitute 
women had worked with Grameen for the last 20 years, starting with 
tiny loans equivalent to less than $20 to buy cows or sell rice. 
Now their loans exceed $1,500, and the women have built and 
furnished homes, helped their husbands find work, and expanded their 
businesses.  Some of the women participated in a renewable energy 
program called Grameen Shakti, which is supported by the U.S. 
Government through USAID.  One woman, a tailor, described how her 
home-based solar energy system ran lights, a cellphone charger, an 
oven and a television.  The system allowed her to work from home and 
take on more business since she could now work at night.  When 
Ambassador Verveer asked who among these Grameen loan recipients had 
cellphones, everyone raised their hands.  All the women also had 
their own savings accounts with the equivalent of at least $800 in 
savings. 
 
¶10.  (SBU) The students told Ambassador Verveer that thanks to 
Grameen education loans they now studied at college and hoped to 
start their own business, enter government service or continue their 
studies abroad.  These students said they would not be in college 
without Grameen, since their parents, most of whom were uneducated, 
could not afford to pay for higher education. 
 
Entrepreneurs say economic opportunity key to success 
---------------------------------------- 
 
¶11.  (SBU) A lunch with the Women Entrepreneurs Association of 
Bangladesh illustrated that businesswomen here are not just active 
at the micro level.  Women working in the fields of handicrafts, 
export-import, garment manufacturing and animal health agreed that 
economic opportunity was key to women's empowerment.  The 
businesswomen told Ambassador Verveer that access to credit and 
markets, as well as technical expertise remained among the 
challenges they faced in growing their businesses.  Many of them 
said they were only able to succeed thanks to the support of their 
family.  They also registered concerns about extremism, too much 
 
DHAKA 00001057  003 OF 003 
 
 
government interference in business and poor implementation of laws. 
 Several participants agreed that women needed to "speak with one 
voice" when lobbying for change. 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶12.  (SBU) Ambassador Verveer observed that Bangladesh had changed 
greatly, mostly for the better, since her first visit here in 1995. 
(NOTE: She accompanied then-First Lady Hillary Clinton to Bangladesh 
on that occasion.  END NOTE.)  The range of women activists and 
their ideas was impressive.  As often happens in Bangladesh, 
however, fragmentation of individuals and groups appears to prevent 
good ideas from becoming reality.  Government, business and civil 
society need to work together better to continue Bangladesh's 
substantial progress on women's issues.  Mission Dhaka will continue 
to look for ways to facilitate concrete actions, particularly in 
priority areas like food security, global climate change, health and 
governance. 
 
¶13.  (U) S/GWI cleared this cable. 
 
MORIARTY