Unlocking local investments for women’s economic empowerment
UN Women, together with UNDP and UNCDF Bangladesh are working jointly to promote women’s economic empowerment through removing bottlenecks and biases against women in Bangladesh’s local economic planning and investment systems. The Integrated Local Economic Development programme aims to increase women’s access to opportunities and public and private investments to develop women-led or gender-responsive businesses at the local level. Through working with local government institutions, we address structural impediments that prevent women, especially from economically marginalized communities from entering the labor market, with a particular emphasis on unlocking domestic capital for economic empowerment and entrepreneurship of women. This includes working with local governments on gender-responsive planning for the use of Local Development Funds (LDF) so that investments in infrastructure and services that support women’s economic activities will be prioritized. The project also builds the capacity of women to develop or expand their enterprises, and effectively engage with local government and financial institutions.