'Ensure women's participation in decision-making'
Demanding an increase in the number of reserved seats for women in parliament and direct elections to those, they said women representatives both at national and local levels have little access to public welfare activities.
Strengthening Parliamentary Democracy (SPD), a project of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), organised the dialogue on 'Empowerment of women: Vision, policy and challenges' at a city hotel.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel. Criticising the amendment to the constitution with regard to reserved seats, Chief Whip of the Opposition Abdus Shahid said the way 45 women MPs were elected is nothing but an act of disregard for political empowerment of women.
"They were given the political posts, but they cannot exercise their power," he said.
Consensus among political parties is needed to ensure women's empowerment, the Awami League lawmaker said, adding that no development would take place if gender discrimination continues to prevail in society.
Jatiya Party lawmaker Begum Raushan Ershad said true representation and empowerment of women depends on how much they can involve themselves in development activities.
If women MPs are not allowed to take part in development activities, there would not be any significant step towards women's empowerment even in the next 50 years, she said.
She also suggested creating 30 more constituencies from where women can be elected directly.
Prof Dr Zarina Rahman Khan of Dhaka University said women Union Parishad members elected to the reserved seats have no specific role to play at the local level. So, they are no more interested in the UP elections.
Besides, conflict with the male UP members left women representatives marginalised in the local government activities, she said.
If the political parties can stop the use of muscle power and black money in elections, women can play a greater role in the political arena, she said.
Shaheen Anam, executive director of Manusher Jonno Foundation, said the country can achieve the Millennium Development Goals regarding primary and secondary education by 2015 through minimising the ratio of boys to girls.
In terms of other issues such as violence against women, healthcare for them, maternal mortality rate and economic disparity in informal sectors, the country is lagging far behind the targets of MDGs, she said.
She also called for monitoring the implementation of women's empowerment issues in the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP) to ensure development of women.
Speaking at the inaugural session as the chief guest, Speaker Jamiruddin Sircar said Bangladesh has made significant progress towards women's empowerment, compared to many other countries in South Asia.
"The number of reserved seats for women can be increased in future through consultations," he said.
Lawmakers Moazzem Hossain Alal and Mashiur Rahman Ranga, Prof ATM Obaidullah of SPD Project, Humaira Aziz, member secretary of Parliamentary Caucus on Gender, and Nojibur Rahman, assistant resident representative of UNDP, also spoke at the session chaired by Begum Sarwari Rahman MP.