A virtual roundtable discussion titled "Implementation of NAP WPS (2019-2022) and CSO Involvement" was organized by Bangladesh Nari Progati Sangha (BNPS) with the support of UN Women Bangladesh on 8 June, 2022. The Daily Star was the media partner of this event. The meeting was chaired by Rokeya Kabir, the Executive Director of BNPS. Representatives from women and human rights organization, academicians, journalist, government officials and representatives from law enforcement agencies attended the event.

Speakers said, Bangladesh has made remarkable progress in many sectors. However, we are still lagging behind in terms of ensuring a safe environment for our women. If we fail to do that then all our achievements will be eroding, since the cost of VAWG is very high.

When a woman faces violence, not only she personally gets traumatized, it also affects all other women and their family members. A country cannot make progress keeping half of its population behind trapped in the four walls of the households and in the threat of violence inside or outside of the household.

They mentioned that, National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security (NAP WPS) was launched by the Bangladesh Government in November 2019. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is leading the action plan along with 11 other ministries. Bangladesh Nari Progati Sangha (BNPS) and Bangladesh Mohila Parishad are associated with this action plan as CSOs. The time frame for implementing this plan was 2019-2022. Although the NAP WPS’s implementation period is into its final year, there is very little progress in its implementation. Everyone involved in the implementation process of NAP WPS, should work together. If it is implemented properly it will help remove many barriers for the emancipation of women in Bangladesh. Therefore, speakers demanded an extension of the period of NAP WPS for its fruitful implementation from this virtual meeting.



The round table drawn attention to the policy makers to the following recommendations:

• Extend the implementation period of NAP WPS.
• Strong women leadership is needed to take the National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security (NAP WPS) agenda forward.
• Allocate funds for CSOs so that they can make meaningful contributions to the implementation of NAP WPS.
• Increase budgetary allocation for gender specific projects and make the budgetary process gender-responsive.
• Recovery efforts in WPS agenda should focus on climate change, Rohingya refugee crisis and Covid-19 pandemic.
• Activate the consultative platform of NAP WPS.
• A parallel report on the progress of NAP WPS should be prepared by CSOs.
• A media strategy should be developed for the implementation of the NAP WPS.
• Coordination among all the stakeholders needed to implement NAP WPS.
• A social movement should be created to end violence against women.