Monday, 03 November, 2025
BNP Acting Chairman Tarique Rahman has set a target of building an inclusive, trillion-dollar economy by 2034, outlining a package to expand women’s participation in the workforce through childcare, equal pay and workplace safety.
In a statement posted to his verified Facebook page on Thursday (October 30), he argued that when young mothers must leave jobs for lack of childcare—or students drop out—Bangladesh loses “potential, productivity and progress.”
Tarique Rahman said the BNP’s aim is a “modern, people-centric Bangladesh” where no woman is forced to choose between her family and her future.
Citing the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics’ 2024 Labour Force Survey, he noted that women’s participation remains significantly lower than men’s—43% versus 80%—warning that the gap means “we are leaving behind more than half of our nation’s talent.”
To narrow that gap, he said the party is considering a nationwide initiative to embed childcare in the country’s growth strategy. Proposed measures include day-care centres at all public universities, a phased national plan to establish facilities in government offices, mandatory childcare at large private firms and factories, tax incentives and CSR credits for employers providing childcare, and training and certification of caregivers to standards set by the Ministry of Women and Children Affairs.
Tarique Rahman argued that a single reform—broad childcare provision—could raise women’s employment, lift household incomes, stabilise the growing middle class and add up to 1 percentage point to GDP.
Pointing to evidence from the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the International Labour Organization (ILO), he said factories offering childcare see higher retention, lower absenteeism and a payback period.
Given that approximately two-thirds of workers in the ready-made garment industry are women, Rahman said the contribution of working mothers must not be undervalued.
“Childcare is not charity; it is an essential part of socio-economic infrastructure,” he added, likening day-care centres to roads that connect markets—“they connect women to success at work.”
Looking ahead, Tarique Rahman said BNP rejects “any retrograde idea that limits women’s potential.” With childcare, equal pay and workplace safety as pillars, he called for “an inclusive trillion-dollar economy by 2034 that creates millions of jobs—where every citizen, especially women, contributes with pride to national growth.”
He closed with an appeal to “build a Bangladesh where every working mother and every student has the freedom to succeed—and where care and cooperation are recognised as the foundation of progress.”
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BNP Acting Chairman Tarique Rahman has set a target of building an inclusive, trillion-dollar economy by 2034, outlining a package to expand women’s participation in the workforce through childcare, equal pay and workplace safety.
In a statement posted to his verified Facebook page on Thursday (October 30), he argued that when young mothers must leave jobs for lack of childcare—or students drop out—Bangladesh loses “potential, productivity and progress.”
Tarique Rahman said the BNP’s aim is a “modern, people-centric Bangladesh” where no woman is forced to choose between her family and her future.
Citing the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics’ 2024 Labour Force Survey, he noted that women’s participation remains significantly lower than men’s—43% versus 80%—warning that the gap means “we are leaving behind more than half of our nation’s talent.”
To narrow that gap, he said the party is considering a nationwide initiative to embed childcare in the country’s growth strategy. Proposed measures include day-care centres at all public universities, a phased national plan to establish facilities in government offices, mandatory childcare at large private firms and factories, tax incentives and CSR credits for employers providing childcare, and training and certification of caregivers to standards set by the Ministry of Women and Children Affairs.
Tarique Rahman argued that a single reform—broad childcare provision—could raise women’s employment, lift household incomes, stabilise the growing middle class and add up to 1 percentage point to GDP.
Pointing to evidence from the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the International Labour Organization (ILO), he said factories offering childcare see higher retention, lower absenteeism and a payback period.
Given that approximately two-thirds of workers in the ready-made garment industry are women, Rahman said the contribution of working mothers must not be undervalued.
“Childcare is not charity; it is an essential part of socio-economic infrastructure,” he added, likening day-care centres to roads that connect markets—“they connect women to success at work.”
Looking ahead, Tarique Rahman said BNP rejects “any retrograde idea that limits women’s potential.” With childcare, equal pay and workplace safety as pillars, he called for “an inclusive trillion-dollar economy by 2034 that creates millions of jobs—where every citizen, especially women, contributes with pride to national growth.”
He closed with an appeal to “build a Bangladesh where every working mother and every student has the freedom to succeed—and where care and cooperation are recognised as the foundation of progress.”
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