Minister Zahid Hossain spoke at National Lessons Learned and Scale-Up Workshop held at Aloki Convention Hall, Tejgaon, Dhaka, today. Photo : ministry

DHAKA, June 28, 2026 (BSS) - Social Welfare and Women and Children Affairs 
Minister Professor Dr A Z M Zahid Hossain today said empowering women is 
indispensable to building a climate-resilient society, stressing that 
ensuring women's leadership is key to sustainable climate adaptation in 
Bangladesh.

He made the remarks as the chief guest at the National Lessons Learned and 
Scale-Up Workshop, organised under the "Empower Women for Climate-Resilient 
Societies (Phase II)" project at Aloki Convention Hall in the capital's 
Tejgaon.

The minister said women's empowerment is no longer merely a development 
agenda but has become a national imperative in addressing the adverse impacts 
of climate change. As one of the world's most climate-vulnerable countries, 
Bangladesh must ensure women's active participation in climate adaptation 
efforts, he added.

He said the government remains firmly committed to women's empowerment by 
prioritising women in social protection programmes, skills development 
training and climate adaptation initiatives.

Referring to the achievements of the Empower project, Dr. Zahid Hossain said 
the successful experiences gained through the initiative should now be 
replicated across the country.
 
Rural women are among the worst sufferers of climate-induced disasters such 
as floods, cyclones, salinity intrusion and drought, and praised the 
contributions of international development partners in strengthening their 
resilience and livelihoods, he noted.

The minister said women trained under the Empower project have already 
improved their socio-economic conditions and are playing leading roles in 
promoting climate-resilient agriculture and sustainable livelihood activities 
at the grassroots level.

Emphasising the need for inclusive policymaking, he said women's voices must 
be reflected at every stage, from national policy formulation to grassroots 
implementation, adding that incorporating a gender-responsive approach into 
climate planning is no longer optional but essential.

He also said the Ministry of Social Welfare and the Ministry of Women and 
Children Affairs are ready to work more closely with similar initiatives in 
the future to strengthen women's resilience against climate change.

During the workshop, project implementers presented key achievements and 
lessons learned from activities carried out in different districts. 
Participants recommended scaling up the project's successful models in other 
climate-vulnerable regions of the country.

UN Women Bangladesh Representative Gitanjali Singh, government officials, 
development partners, representatives of UN agencies and NGOs, researchers, 
and around 100 grassroots women entrepreneurs from Kurigram, Jamalpur, 
Khulna, Satkhira and Cox's Bazar attended the event.

The Empower Women for Climate-Resilient Societies project is jointly 
implemented by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and UN Women 
to promote women's empowerment and build sustainable, inclusive and climate-
resilient communities.