Measuring Women’s Leadership in COVID-19 Responses in Bangladesh

Over recent decades, there has been an increased focus on women’s leadership in humanitarian and development contexts. Evidence highlights the important role of women’s leadership in bringing ‘invaluable contextual knowledge, skills, resources and experiences to emergency preparedness, response, and resilience-building.’

This has been amplified in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, with key humanitarian and development actors recognizing the importance of women’s leadership in ameliorating the impacts of the health emergency, and in supporting locally-led responses. This research seeks to contribute to addressing this gap by applying the Framework for Measuring Women’s Leadership and Meaningful Participation in COVID-19 Responses. It examines the extent of women’s leadership and partnership in responses to the COVID-19 pandemic in Bangladesh. It is the second baseline study using the framework, building on research in the Philippines.