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This path-breaking study of gender, grassroots globalization, and neoliberalism in Bangladesh looks critically at the Grameen Bank and three of the leading NGOs in the country. Amid euphoria over the benefits of microfinance, Lamia Karim offers a timely and sobering perspective on the practical, and possibly detrimental, realities for poor women inducted into microfinance operations.

This study explores the short term migration of Bangladeshi women to Malaysia to work in labour intensive, export oriented factories, and considers the consequences of their decision to migrate. While international migration is a much discussed issue, so far little attention has been given to the vast flow of South-to-South migration, which is particularly large in Asia. The labour migration flows within this region are typified by their highly regulated nature, temporary character and by the predominance of females undertaking migration. So far, most academic attention has focused on permanent or settlement migration. This study aims to fill a gap in our understanding of migration theory by focusing on temporary migration processes. The study examines the reasons Bangladeshi women gave for migrating and how their experience impacted their lives during their migration and after their return. The findings underscore the importance of incorporating gender in migration theory and integrating it into analyses. While in most cases their migration was socio-culturally contested, the women say they migrated in an effort to improve their socio-economic standing. This proved in general to be more difficult than anticipated; wages were not paid according to contract or labour law, and male peers often opposed their efforts. The complex nature of these women's position and situation preclude unequivocal conclusions as to the possible benefits or losses resulting from migration. But by revealing the experiences of individual women, this study helps to clarify some of the ambiguities of the individual migrants complex reality. The analysis of their experiences exposes important gender dynamics.

\"Using the case study of Bangladesh and based on a long term participatory observation method, this book investigates the claims of the success of microcredit, as well as the critiques of it in the context of women's empowerment. It confronts the distinction between women's increasing wealth as a consequence of the success of microcredit programmes and their apparent not-commensurate empowerment, and looks at two organisations operating in two localities in rural Bangladesh in order to discover how these concepts are often confused. The book goes on to establish that the success stories of the microcredit programme are blown out of proportion, and that the dynamics of collective responsibility for repayment of loans by a group of women borrowers - usually seen to be a tool for success of microcredit - is in fact no less repressive than traditional debt collectors. It is a worthwhile contribution to development debates, challenging adherents to more closely specify those conditions under which microcredit does indeed have validity, as well as providing useful research for South Asian Studies and Development Studies\"-- Provided by publisher.

We study how women’s choices over labor activities in village economies correlate with poverty and whether enabling the poorest women to take on the activities of their richer counterparts can set them on a sustainable trajectory out of poverty. To do this we conduct a large-scale randomized control trial, covering over 21,000 households in 1,309 villages surveyed four times over a seven-year period, to evaluate a nationwide program in Bangladesh that transfers livestock assets and skills to the poorest women. At baseline, the poorest women mostly engage in low return and seasonal casual wage labor while wealthier women solely engage in livestock rearing. The program enables poor women to start engaging in livestock rearing, increasing their aggregate labor supply and earnings. This leads to asset accumulation (livestock, land, and business assets) and poverty reduction, both sustained after four and seven years. These gains do not crowd out the livestock businesses of noneligible households while the wages these receive for casual jobs increase as the poor reduce their labor supply. Our results show that (i) the poor are able to take on the work activities of the nonpoor but face barriers to doing so, and, (ii) one-off interventions that remove these barriers lead to sustainable poverty reduction.

Bangladesh is one of the most anemia prone countries in South Asia. Children of age under five years and women of reproductive age are particularly vulnerable in this region. Although several studies have investigated the risk factors of anemia, only few have explored its association with malnutrition, despite its high prevalence in the same group. The objective of this paper is to investigate the association of malnutrition with anemia by conducting separate analyses for under-five children and women of reproductive age using data from the nationally representative 2011 Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey. Two binary outcome variables are considered separately: presence of anemia in children under five years of age (Hb<11.0 g/dl) and presence of anemia in women of childbearing age (Hb<12.0 g/dl). The exposures of interest corresponding to these two outcomes are stunting (low height-for-age) and low BMI (<18.5 kg/m2), respectively. Preliminary analysis involves estimating the association between exposure and outcome while controlling for a single confounder by computing adjusted odds ratios (adjOR) using the Cochran-Mantel-Haenszel approach in stratified analysis. Later, associations between the exposures and outcomes are estimated separately for under-five children and women of reproductive age by fitting multivariable regression models that adjust simultaneously for several confounders. The prevalence of anemia is found to be higher among both the stunted children and women with low BMI compared to their healthy counterparts (Children: 56% vs 48%; women: 50% vs 43%). Furthermore, stunted children and women with low BMI have significantly increased odds of developing anemia, as reflected by the adjusted ORs of 1.76 (95% CI:1.10-2.83) and 1.81 (95% CI: 1.11-3.48), respectively. The association of stunting with anemia in children was modified by their age and socio-economic condition, where risk of being anemic decreases with increasing age but with a lower rate for stunted children from richest family. In addition, stunted children of anemic mothers are at greater risk of being anemic compared to non-stunted children of anemic or non-anemic mothers. Again the association between BMI and anemia in women is modified by the level of education, with risk of anemia being lowest among women with low BMI and higher education. Evidence-based policies targeting the vulnerable groups are required to combat anemia and nutritional deficiencies simultaneously under the same program.

Background Anaemia among women is a public health problem with associated adverse outcomes for mother and child. This study investigates the determinants of women’s anaemia in two Bengals; West Bengal (a province of India) and Bangladesh. These two spaces are inhabitated by Bengali speaking population since historic past. The study argues that open defecation, contraceptive method use and food consumption patterns are playing crucial role in explaining anaemia. Methods Using non-pregnant women belonging to different religious groups, we analyzed a total of 21,032 women aged 15–49 from the nationally representative cross-sectional surveys, i.e., Bangladesh Demographic Health Survey (BDHS-VI, 2011) and National Family Health Survey (NFHS round 4, 2015–16). We performed spatial, bivariate and logistic regression analyses to unfold the important risk factors of anaemia in two Bengals. Results The prevalence of anaemia was 64% in West Bengal and 41% in Bangladesh. The significant risk factors explaining anaemia were use of sterilization, vegetarian diet and open defecation. Further, women who used groundwater (tube well or well) for drinking suffered more from anaemia. Also, younger women, poor, less educated and having more children were highly likely to be anaemic. The study also indicates that those who frequently consumed non-vegetarian items and fruits in West Bengal and experienced household food security in Bangladesh were less prone to be anaemic. Hindus of West Bengal, followed by Muslims of that state and then Hindus of Bangladesh were at the higher risk of anaemia compared to Muslims of Bangladesh, indicating the stronger role of space over religion in addressing anaemia. Unlike West Bengal, Bangladesh observed distinct regional differences in women's anaemia. Conclusions Propagating the choices of contraception mainly Pill/ injection/IUDs and making the availability of iron rich food along with a favourable community environment in terms of safe drinking water and improved sanitation besides better education and economic condition can help to tackle anaemia in limited-resource areas.

Introduction Environmental Enteric Dysfunction (EED) is a subacute inflammation of the small intestinal (SI) mucosa associated with undernutrition and perturbation of the SI microbiota. Its diagnosis relies on histopathological assessment of small intestinal biopsies, with a lack of validated biomarkers contributing to underdiagnosis. This study assessed the prevalence and histological features of EED in undernourished Bangladeshi women living in an urban slum in Dhaka, compared to well-nourished women from slum and non-slum areas, and examined the factors associated with histologically confirmed EED. Methods This analysis included non-pregnant, non-lactating Bangladeshi women aged 18–45 years classified by location of residence and nutritional status: well-nourished non-slum residents (WNNS), well-nourished slum residents (WNS), and undernourished slum residents (UNS). Data were obtained from two ongoing studies and one completed study. Well-nourished women (BMI 20–24.9 kg/m 2 ) who consented to upper gastrointestinal endoscopy for functional dyspepsia were also enrolled. During endoscopy, mucosal biopsies were collected from the distal duodenum, and the presence of EED was determined by histologic assessment of lymphocyte infiltration, villous atrophy, and/or crypt hyperplasia. Results Between October 2, 2022, and June 30, 2024, 1059 WNNS and 445 WNS women were screened for eligibility. Of these, 33 WNNS and 55 WNS women underwent endoscopic evaluation. Histological data were available from a prior study of 38 UNS women. Histological examination showed EED in 21% of WNNS, 18% of WNS, and 100% of UNS women. Multiple logistic regression analysis indicated that BMI (aOR: 0.70, 95% CI: 0.58–0.85; p  < 0.001) was significantly associated with the presence of EED in women in this study. Conclusion Although EED was expectedly common in undernourished women, its detection in well-nourished women indicates that environmental conditions may influence intestinal health beyond nutritional status alone. These findings indicate that attention to environmental risks is important for wider groups of women and support further work to understand the pathways that lead to EED in different community settings.