Seven leading national and international organizations have launched the 'Coalition for Advancing Equality and Justice' -- a countrywide initiative to position the rights and welfare of women and children at the forefront of political party election manifestos.

Seven prominent organizations—including Breaking the Silence, JAAGO Foundation, Manusher Jonno Foundation, Oxfam in Bangladesh, Plan International Bangladesh, Save the Children in Bangladesh, and WaterAid Bangladesh—have jointly launched the Coalition for Advancing Equality and Justice.

The initiative seeks to make the rights and welfare of women and children a central focus of all election manifestos across the country.

The members of the Coalition stated: "This coalition has been formed to ensure that the voices, struggles, and aspirations of Bangladesh’s majority population, women and childrenare not sidelined once again in political commitments."

The coalition is currently holding regional consultations, evidence reviews, and community listening sessions to assess the needs of women and children in urban, rural, and climate-vulnerable zones. The findings, supplemented by the initial position paper, will form concrete demands that will be presented to political parties at a high-level dialogue in Dhaka on December 14.

Bangladesh is currently under an interim government, preparing for a national election scheduled for February 2026. The election manifestos drafted during this period are crucial, as they determine not only political agendas but also budget allocations, service delivery priorities, public investment, and long-term development pathways.

Despite women making up 50.8% of the population (source: World Bank, 2023) and children 33% (source: UNICEF, 2023) their specific needs are often weakly reflected in political commitments.

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This neglect persists even as severe vulnerabilities continue across the country, including gender-based violence, early marriage, learning poverty, malnutrition, unsafe migration and climate risks.

Data confirms the crisis: the VAW Survey 2024 (source: BBS & UNFPA) found that 70% of ever-married women suffered intimate partner violence. Furthermore, Bangladesh has Asia’s highest child-marriage prevalence at 51.4% (source: UNICEF, UN Women, Plan International, 2023). These challenges are amplified for children in slums, chars and coastal zones who face heightened deprivation, with disabled children being disproportionately excluded.

A major threat is Bangladesh’s alarming climate crisis, with projections estimating around 19 million internal climate migrants by 2050 (source: World Bank, Groundswell Report, 2021). Women and children are categorized as being at the highest risk.

Based on early consultations and evidence reviews, five priority areas require urgent political commitment: Education, Health and Nutrition, Protection, Climate Vulnerability, Diversity & Inclusion and WASH.

Members of the coalitions further stated: "Political leaders must recognise that the wellbeing of women and children is not a peripheral agendait is the foundation of a just, resilient and future-ready nation."

They urge all political parties to demonstrate leadership by committing to evidence-based, adequately financed and inclusive policies that respond to the lived realities of women and children.