Over the last two decades, Bangladesh has made progress in women's participation in the labor force, gender parity in primary education, and women's political representation. Areas of concern include the high prevalence of violence against women, obstacles to women's access to resources and assets, unequal terms of their labor engagement, and impact of their overwhelming responsibility for care work. The Government of Bangladesh has made policy commitments toward gender equality and established an institutional framework to fulfill these. This publication intends to support the government in its attempt to address persisting gender inequalities and gaps through a multisector approach across policies, programs, and projects. It provides insights into gender issues in urban; transport; energy; and skills, vocational, and tertiary education, and gives suggestions for strengthening gender mainstreaming in projects.
This publication examines the performance of the Asian Development Bank in achieving the goals of Strategy 2020, one of the institution's long-term planning documents. It tracks recent development progress in Asia and the Pacific, assesses ADB's development effectiveness, and identifies areas where ADB's performance needs to be strengthened. The 2018 Development Effectiveness Review is the 12th in a series of yearly reports.