| Sumario: | Gender Responsive Budgeting (GRB) is an international planning instrument developed to enable national governments to plan, implement and track the outcomes of gender equitable budgets.
Without a robust and strategic gender budgeting system, it is not possible to translate policy prescriptions to gender equality. Currently, 100 countries have initiated efforts on gender-responsive
budgeting to address the historical underinvestment in women and girls. However, data from over 105 countries shows that of this total, only 27 have comprehensive systems to track gender equality allocations in their financial budgets.
Bangladesh was an early adopter of the Gender Responsive Budgeting (GRB) strategy. The country formally introduced GRB as part of the Financial Strategy in 2009–10, initially piloting the approach in four ministries. Currently, 61 Ministries operationalize the GRB and in 2025, nearly one-third (33%) of the national budget, equivalent to over Tk 260,000 crore (2.1m USD), was tagged as gender-responsive. This reflects official and regulatory commitment to promoting gender equity through fiscal mechanisms.
Bangladesh has also formally demonstrated its commitment to international gender equality policies and goals, but there are also deep-rooted cultural challenges. For example, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), a worldwide human rights charter for women outlines provisions for equal rights for women, including prevention and control of trafficking, exploitation and discrimination on gendered grounds, and on improving education, health, and employment rights for women. Bangladesh ratified the CEDAW in 1984 and submits periodic reports to the CEDAW Committee on progress and challenges, however, there are reservations: Article 2 - namely, incorporation of equality into legal systems and practices, and Article 16.1(c) - equal rights and responsibilities in marriage and divorce are both not applicable in Bangladesh. These challenges, as we discuss below result in contradictions in gender gains.
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