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THE recommendations that the women’s affairs reforms commission, set up on November 18, 2024, put forth on April 19 for the government to effect appear assuring in that they are mostly meant to do away with the discrimination that exists in society against women. The commission has made 15 specific recommendations, which include the provision for equal rights of women to property, a uniform family code irrespective of religion, ethnicity or class, and a permanent commission on women’s affairs. The number of recommendations in the report is, however, 433. Some of the recommendations, as the commission head says, can be implemented during the tenure of the interim government, which assumed office after the August 2024 political changeover that resulted from the overthrow of the Awami League regime in a mass uprising. Some of the recommendations would be left to the next elected government to execute. The commission head says that some of the recommendations are expectations and dreams of the campaigners of women’s rights. The chief adviser to the interim government has, however, given directives for the relevant ministries and divisions to implement the recommendations that can be executed now.

The introduction of the uniform family code, which will ensure equal rights of women to property and inheritance, will ensure their participation in the economy. The commission recommends making the inclusion of women easy in agriculture, recognising women as fishers and ensuring women’s right to forest resources. The commission also recommends 18 years to be set as the minimum legal age of marriage, which will protect them from risky pregnancies. The commission calls for reforms in the women and children’s affairs ministry, an easy complaint filing mechanism, an increase in the number of women in public administration, a six-month maternal leave and two-week paternal leave across the sectors, an equal opportunity for participation in all levels of public spheres including sports and cultural activities, the traditional governance system of ethnic minority groups on the hills and in the plains, a one-third representation of women in all local government institutions, the review of and reform in the laws to prevent violence against women and children. The commission seeks the institution of a permanent women’s affairs commission to observe, oversee and protect the rights of women, the withdrawal of two reservations on the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and the ratification of the ILO Charter C189 and C190 and their implementation.

In view of the women’s overwhelming role in the 2024 uprising that overthrew the Awami League government — the commission head also says that they could not have made the recommendations without the movement that the Students Against Discrimination carried out in 2024 — it is imperative that the government should effect the recommendations, rising above any vested interest.