News Flash
DHAKA, June 28, 2026 (BSS) - Social Welfare and Women and Children Affairs
Minister Professor Dr A Z M Zahid Hossain today said empowering women is
indispensable to building a climate-resilient society, stressing that
ensuring women's leadership is key to sustainable climate adaptation in
Bangladesh.
He made the remarks as the chief guest at the National Lessons Learned and
Scale-Up Workshop, organised under the "Empower Women for Climate-Resilient
Societies (Phase II)" project at Aloki Convention Hall in the capital's
Tejgaon.
The minister said women's empowerment is no longer merely a development
agenda but has become a national imperative in addressing the adverse impacts
of climate change. As one of the world's most climate-vulnerable countries,
Bangladesh must ensure women's active participation in climate adaptation
efforts, he added.
He said the government remains firmly committed to women's empowerment by
prioritising women in social protection programmes, skills development
training and climate adaptation initiatives.
Referring to the achievements of the Empower project, Dr. Zahid Hossain said
the successful experiences gained through the initiative should now be
replicated across the country.
Rural women are among the worst sufferers of climate-induced disasters such
as floods, cyclones, salinity intrusion and drought, and praised the
contributions of international development partners in strengthening their
resilience and livelihoods, he noted.
The minister said women trained under the Empower project have already
improved their socio-economic conditions and are playing leading roles in
promoting climate-resilient agriculture and sustainable livelihood activities
at the grassroots level.
Emphasising the need for inclusive policymaking, he said women's voices must
be reflected at every stage, from national policy formulation to grassroots
implementation, adding that incorporating a gender-responsive approach into
climate planning is no longer optional but essential.
He also said the Ministry of Social Welfare and the Ministry of Women and
Children Affairs are ready to work more closely with similar initiatives in
the future to strengthen women's resilience against climate change.
During the workshop, project implementers presented key achievements and
lessons learned from activities carried out in different districts.
Participants recommended scaling up the project's successful models in other
climate-vulnerable regions of the country.
UN Women Bangladesh Representative Gitanjali Singh, government officials,
development partners, representatives of UN agencies and NGOs, researchers,
and around 100 grassroots women entrepreneurs from Kurigram, Jamalpur,
Khulna, Satkhira and Cox's Bazar attended the event.
The Empower Women for Climate-Resilient Societies project is jointly
implemented by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and UN Women
to promote women's empowerment and build sustainable, inclusive and climate-
resilient communities.
