Bangladesh in bottom tier for girls’ leadership in Asia

Bangladesh was ranked the fourth worst country in the Asia-Pacific region for girls' rights and opportunities in leadership, said a new report by Plan International.

It was ranked 16th among 19 countries in the "2021 Asia-Pacific Girls Report: Voice, Choice, and Power" conducted by the Plan International.

Bangladesh received the fourth-lowest index score (0.477) only ahead of Brunei Darussalam (0.462), Afghanistan (0.405), and Pakistan (0.392).

The overall index values and ranking of each country were based on the six domains of education, economic opportunities, protection, health, political voice and representation, and laws and policies.

Bangladesh placed 11th for the health domain and 14th for both the education, and laws and policies domain.

For the economic opportunities and protection domain, it ranked 17th out of 19 countries.

Although Bangladesh was ahead of Pakistan and Afghanistan in South Asia, it trailed the rest of the South Asian nations.

Sri Lanka ranked 5th and scored (0.665) followed by Maldives 6th scored (0.659), Bhutan 8th (0.630).

India ranked 12th with a score of 0.591 and Nepal ranked 15th with a score of 0.517.

The Southeast Asian island city-state Singapore (0.784) earned the highest mark followed by Thailand and the Philippines.

The report found that girls and young women are working tirelessly to ensure gender transformative change and social inclusion.

Across the region, social and cultural norms continue to contribute to gender inequality and the lack of opportunity, the report said.

Plan International Asia-Pacific Hub Regional Director Bhagyashri Dengle said, "Through peer-led advocacy, these young female activists have demonstrated that their voice can influence not only the progress made towards ensuring gender equality but also a country's overall development."

The report said if given sufficient support and the right tools, girls and young women can ensure positive change towards gender equality.

It added that girls and young women activists are successfully using different levels of civic engagement to influence gender-transformative change.

"This report demonstrates girls' ability to break through barriers and contribute significantly to reforms and development."

The research also highlighted digital technologies and social media as key components in successful civic engagement.

The report on young female leadership is a follow-up and expansion of a previous one first published in 2020 which included research from 19 countries in South and Southeast Asia.