Year
2026
Reform Domain
Manifesto Watch
Women
Sub Domain
Women’s Empowerment
Source of Reform Proposals
Election Manifesto of Bangladesh Nationalist Party - BNP
Reform Proposed
Reform Initiated
Legal and Policy Framework
Operationalisation
Action Implementation
Stage of Implementation
Reform Proposed
Last Update: 03-Aug-26
This pledge was articulated in the election manifesto of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) for Bangladesh’s 13th national election. In its election manifesto, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) states that "Ensure women’s safety in travels and commute, strengthen reproductive health rights, remove cultural barriers, include marginalised women, expand mental health support, and take effective measures to ensure women’s equity in the face of climate change risks.”
Reform Initiated
Last Update: 03-Aug-26
On 8 March 2026, the Directorate of Secondary and Higher Education directed the gradual introduction of a scientific-lifestyle and mental-health programme in all government and non-government schools and colleges. The programme provided for annual awareness activities involving students, teachers and, where necessary, guardians.
In the FY2026–27 Budget Speech presented in Parliament on 11 June 2026, the Finance Minister announced that district hospitals and their associated upazila health complexes would be developed as comprehensive Secondary Healthcare Units. Under this framework, upazila health complexes would be strengthened as primary centres for maternal, neonatal, child and reproductive-health services.
Legal and Policy Framework
Last Update: 03-Aug-26
The Live Life adolescent suicide-prevention pilot is reportedly ongoing during April–August 2026 in selected upazilas of Jashore, Jhenaidah, Sylhet and Chapainawabganj. The pilot covers 200 educational institutions and targets 20,000 students and 288 teachers and community stakeholders through surveys, awareness sessions and training.
The reported framework places the pilot under the supervision of the Directorate of Secondary and Higher Education, with technical guidance from the National Institute of Mental Health, funding from the World Health Organization and implementation support from Moner Bondhu. It also provides for DSHE monitoring, confidentiality of collected data, institutional focal persons, submission of a final report and preparation of a research paper intended to support a future national suicide-prevention policy.
Operationalisation
Last Update: 15-Oct-26
The Live Life adolescent suicide-prevention initiative is being piloted in selected areas, with school-based activities focusing on socio-emotional skills, recognition of psychological distress and help-seeking. By 10 September 2026, 488 teachers, including 40 master trainers, had received socio-emotional life-skills training under the pilot. Lessons from participating schools are expected to inform possible expansion of the programme.
On the reproductive-health side, the Health Minister informed Parliament on 7 September that measures were underway to maintain uninterrupted family-planning, maternal and reproductive-health services, while procurement of contraceptives, essential medicines and equipment had reached the final administrative stages.
Observation
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Khulna Metropolitan Police concluded a two-day psychosocial-care training workshop for women police personnel. The programme aimed to strengthen women's mental resilience, psychological strength and professional competence. It specifically called for cyber harassment to be explicitly recognised within the legal definition of sexual harassment.
News reports indicate that the government is supervising the second phase of the Live Life adolescent suicide-prevention survey and awareness-training pilot in 200 educational institutions, targeting 20,000 students and 288 teachers and community stakeholders. However, the publicly available evidence is based on media reporting, primarily BSS, and the underlying DSHE order, implementation guidelines and related official documents were not found in the public domain. The pilot also originated before the current government, is externally funded and remains limited to selected upazilas in four districts. Reproductive health received greater recognition in the FY2026–27 Gender Budget, but much of the relevant policy framework and service infrastructure predates the government, and no new pledge-specific nationwide programme, dedicated allocation or measurable delivery mechanism was identified. Operational evidence also remains limited regarding marginalised women, cultural barriers and climate-related inequalities in women’s health.
Resources
- BNP's Election Manifesto 2026
- DSHE orders scientific lifestyle, mental health programme in all educational institutions
- Gender Budget FY 2026-27
- Govt launches programme to tackle rising adolescent suicide risk
- National Budget Speech FY2026-27
- WHO urges coordinated action to prevent suicide in Bangladesh
- পরিবার পরিকল্পনা কার্যক্রম আরও কার্যকর করতে সরকারের বহুমুখী উদ্যোগ : স্বাস্থ্যমন্ত্রী