Women deliberately excluded from July Declaration: CPD research director

Khondaker Golam Moazzem, research director of the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD), has accused the drafters of the July Declaration of deliberately excluding women.

"I have read the entire declaration carefully and found no mention of women anywhere. Their exclusion was clearly intentional," he said at a roundtable discussion on "Women's Seats in Parliament and Women's Political Empowerment", organised by Prothom Alo at its Karwan Bazar office in Dhaka today.

He questioned the involvement of young representatives in endorsing the document, adding, "How could they support this despite what they have seen?"

Moazzem stressed that true empowerment must begin within political parties, ensuring meaningful representation of women in leadership from district to central levels.

He criticised recent commissions for ignoring political party reforms, calling this the root cause of women's continued marginalisation.

Photo: Courtesy/Prothom Alo

"I challenge that women's leadership in the upcoming parliament will be even weaker than before. We are not heading in a good direction," he said, pointing to increasing "Islamisation" allowed by political parties.

"Women have only been given symbolic roles so far. Even this minimal presence will vanish in the coming days. Women may have to withdraw further. Post-election efforts must intensify to find solutions," he added.

Moazzem sees active women's participation as the key, but noted the barriers, saying, "The solution lies in parliament, but it is not happening because many come through reserved seats without election, so they lack ownership and accountability."

"That's why direct elections are demanded. Moving forward, we must monitor reforms in women's leadership within political parties. I urge gender equality advocates to establish parliamentary monitoring systems focused on gender issues," he added.