ActionAid dialogue calls for stronger education, climate spending

The upcoming national budget for FY2026-27 should prioritise women, youth, education and climate-vulnerable communities through a sustainable, people-centred macroeconomic framework, speakers said at a dialogue in Dhaka today.

They said the newly elected government's first national budget would be a key opportunity to translate its electoral commitments on inclusive growth, employment generation, youth skills development, gender equality and climate resilience into action.

The observations were made at a dialogue titled "Fund Our Future Now: A People-Centred Budget for Women, Youth and Climate Justice", organised by ActionAid Bangladesh at the CIRDAP auditorium in the capital on Tuesday, 19 May, 2026.

Economists, researchers, climate experts, academics, policymakers and representatives of marginalised communities joined the discussion.

Speakers said rising inflation, global and domestic economic pressures, and worsening climate-induced crises had made it urgent to establish sustainable protection mechanisms for marginalised communities, particularly women, youth and people most affected by climate change.

They stressed the need to align policy-level development ambitions with grassroots realities to build a forward-looking and people-centred budget framework.

At the event, ActionAid Bangladesh presented a data-driven analysis of national budgets over the past five fiscal years, from FY2021-22 to FY2025-26. The analysis showed that although the overall budget size increased steadily, allocations for sectors critical to sustainable development, including education, health and gender-responsive budgeting, remained stagnant compared with actual needs.

Speakers also emphasised improving budget quality, implementation efficiency and results-based initiatives.

According to ActionAid Bangladesh's budget review, allocation for the education sector declined from 2.08% of GDP to 1.72% over the past five years.

Although gender budgeting has been institutionalised across 44 ministries, speakers said there was still significant scope to strengthen field-level protection and social services for women. The overall size of the gender budget also declined from 5.7% of GDP to 4.2% during the period.

Data presented at the dialogue showed that reduced allocations in sub-sectors related to women's direct public services and safety had weakened institutional capacities at the grassroots level, particularly in violence prevention and legal support services.

Despite Bangladesh being among the countries most vulnerable to climate change, only 2.89% of the Annual Development Programme allocation has been directed towards renewable energy, according to the analysis.

Speakers also pointed to substantial financing gaps in implementing the National Adaptation Plan and Nationally Determined Contributions, both from domestic and international funding sources.

Dr Saimum Parvez, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Environment, Forest and Climate Change, said a people-centred approach had become crucial in policymaking.

He said public participation in policy formulation and implementation had increased significantly compared with previous years.

Highlighting the government's efforts to translate electoral commitments on climate and development into concrete action, he said, "Climate finance, debt management, international funding, and inter-ministerial coordination are now receiving the highest priority."

Dr Saimum Parvez said the government was working on renewable energy, waste-to-energy initiatives and turning waste into resources.

New initiatives on e-waste management and carbon trading are also under way, with an estimated potential of nearly $1 billion in carbon trading opportunities, he said.

He added that, alongside mega projects, the government aimed to build a climate-conscious, gender-responsive and people-centred development model by prioritising marginalised communities and youth development.

Md Golam Mosaddeque, Additional Secretary of the Planning Division, agreed on the need for incentives for green initiatives.

He said the government's primary focus remained employment generation and reducing income inequality.

He added that climate justice considerations had already been incorporated into 15 sectors, while a fully digital real-time dashboard had been introduced to strengthen transparency.

Skills, jobs and political empowerment

Professor Samina Lutfa of the Department of Sociology at the University of Dhaka said increasing GDP allocation alone would not ensure development outcomes.

"If young people cannot access education, skills, and employment opportunities, the benefits of development will not reach them," she said.

Expressing concern over declining gender budget allocations, she warned that the trend could undermine women's access to education and healthcare.

She also suggested introducing state support for female candidates' election expenses as a transformative measure to break the "glass ceiling" in politics.

Dr Shaikh Mohammad Zobayed Hossain, Joint Secretary at the Ministry of Youth and Sports, said youth development budgeting had evolved into a year-round programme.

He said special allocations were being provided for SME loans of up to Tk5 lakh and outsourcing opportunities for young people. He also stressed the need for a more participatory budget process.

In her welcome remarks, Farah Kabir said a budget was not merely a statement of numbers or financial allocations but one of the state's most important instruments for improving the lives of marginalised women, young people and communities vulnerable to climate risks.

She said Bangladesh already had an institutional framework for gender-responsive budgeting, but its qualitative implementation was now essential.

"Unless we can establish clear financing targets and effectively address the structural drivers of social inequality, the benefits of overall economic growth will not reach everyone equitably," she said.

Economist and Dhaka University Professor Sayema Haque Bidisha said it was misleading to view gender budgeting simply as separate allocations for women.

"Gender budgeting is an integrated framework that cuts across all ministries," she said.

She observed that a significant share of allocations was often absorbed at administrative levels. She called for recognising unpaid care work, ensuring safe public transport and expanding employment opportunities beyond the readymade garment sector.

Climate finance expert Dr Ahsan Uddin Ahmed said although nearly 25 ministries had been engaged in climate-related activities over the past decade, the average implementation capacity remained only 7%.

He said weak accountability mechanisms were undermining efforts to reduce climate risks and called for stronger monitoring systems.

Professor Sharmind Neelormi of Jahangirnagar University said issues concerning women, youth and climate could not be treated separately.

She said many projects in coastal regions failed to reflect local realities and warned that debt-driven development would not remain sustainable in the long term.

Participating in the dialogue, Mosammat Nipa Akter urged government officials to stand beside women farmers.

"Although the government allocates improved seeds, women farmers often do not receive them properly at the field level. Removing this disparity is essential for empowering women farmers and increasing national agricultural production," she said.

Participants placed several recommendations for the FY2026-27 national budget.

They called for increasing women's participation in Technical and Vocational Education and Training to 40% by 2030 and establishing a dedicated Women Entrepreneurs Fund.

They also recommended expanding One-Stop Crisis Centres and mental health support services, ensuring safe public transport, and introducing separate local government allocations to prevent gender-based violence at the grassroots level.

Other recommendations included gradually increasing education sector allocation to 3% of GDP by 2028, publishing a Youth Budget Statement, and launching a real-time public tracking dashboard to ensure transparency in youth budgeting.

Participants also called for expanding the Youth Entrepreneurship Fund to Tk600 crore for young people in coastal and digital sectors, creating dedicated budget codes for climate loss and damage and adaptation financing, and ensuring direct transfer mechanisms for climate funds at the local level.

During the open discussion, Associate Professor Taslima Yasmin, also a General Assembly Member of ActionAid Bangladesh, said gender-based violence continued despite the existence of gender budgets and legal frameworks due to weak coordination and inadequate targeted allocations.

She called for explicit recognition of gender-based violence within development budgeting and strategic allocations for vulnerable communities.

Representatives from climate-affected communities, transgender community, young persons with disabilities and marginalised grassroots communities from across the country also shared their experiences and expectations with policymakers.

Rajekujjaman Ratan, president of the Socialist Labour Front, was among the participants.