Speaking in Dhaka, Zaima Rahman says Bangladesh’s climate and development goals require women’s leadership, inclusive policymaking, and action beyond laws to address gendered climate impacts affecting coastal communities and livelihoods.
Barrister Zaima Rahman, daughter of Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) Chairperson Tarique Rahman, has said Bangladesh’s progress on climate action and sustainable development will remain incomplete unless women’s voices are fully included in policymaking and national planning. The BNP is Bangladesh’s main opposition party and has historically promoted women’s participation in public and economic life. Tarique Rahman, a leading opposition figure, currently heads the party.
Zaima also cited initiatives undertaken during the tenure of former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, including the expansion of girls’ education through free secondary schooling and programmes such as food-for-education and cash-for-education, which helped millions of girls remain in school.
Speaking at a discussion on Women’s Role in Nation-Building organised by the Dhaka Forum at the Krishibid Institute in the capital on Sunday, Zaima Rahman stressed that gender equality is not merely a women’s issue but an economic and national priority.
“Belief means nothing without action. Equality cannot survive on words alone,” she said, calling for empowerment that moves beyond laws and classrooms to transform everyday practices, institutions and social mindsets.
Highlighting the gendered impacts of climate change, Zaima Rahman said women are disproportionately affected by salinity intrusion in coastal regions, climate-induced displacement from floods and river erosion and precarious livelihoods in the informal economy, where women constitute a significant share of the workforce.
“Women are among the most vulnerable to climate change, yet they are also key to community resilience,” she said, adding that climate policies developed without women’s perspectives risk being ineffective and exclusionary.
She emphasised that meaningful inclusion of women in climate governance, adaptation planning and national decision-making is essential to ensure policies reflect lived realities on the ground.
Zaima Rahman said families play a decisive role in shaping gender roles long before public policies take effect. “Our homes are our first classrooms. They teach us what is possible, what is acceptable and what is expected,” she said, noting that supportive social environments are critical for women’s participation in public life.
Zaima Rahman noted that women are often forced to choose between family responsibilities and professional ambitions. She said efforts to expand access to credit, support small businesses and strengthen maternity leave and childcare systems were aimed at reducing these structural barriers.
Referring to her grandfather, the late President Ziaur Rahman, founder of the BNP, she said he believed national development was incomplete without women’s participation in economic and public life.
“Policies and access alone do not create equality,” she said. “If social norms and daily expectations remain unequal, empowerment remains fragile.” She added that while girls are frequently expected to adjust their ambitions around family needs, boys are rarely taught that care and responsibility should be shared.
Concluding her remarks, Zaima Rahman said women’s full and equal participation is indispensable as Bangladesh confronts climate change, economic transformation, political transition and demographic pressure.
“If Bangladesh wants real progress, not symbolic success stories but sustained national development, women must be at the centre of climate policy, national planning and decision-making,” she concluded.
