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Despite a steady economic and social development in Bangladesh, women are in an underprivileged situation in many ways. In this context, this thesis aims to explore the impact of mobile phone use on women’s empowerment in Bangladesh. The thesis employs ordered logit model and multinomial logit model using Financial Inclusion Insights (2017) survey data to investigate the relationship between mobile phone use and women’s empowerment. The main result of the thesis indicates that mobile phone use facilitates women’s empowerment in general, but mobile phone use does not give additional support for women’s empowerment in a male headed household. Moreover, social media use by one’s own mobile phone does not help women’s empowerment. The result of this thesis implies that mobile phone conversation does not make any difference in women’s performance to comply with gender norms. Another implication of the result is that mobile phone use itself does not ensure women’s increasing awareness about their rights and does not in all instances help defeat patriarchy. In addition, social media use may expand social networks, but using social media itself does not confirm that it helps women’s empowerment.

Background: With an estimated number of 1.2 billion in the world, adolescents represent a major transformative force in global health. Optimum adolescent nutrition is increasingly important for scaling up population health gains in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) of South Asia. Nevertheless, little is known about the gender and socio-economic stratification of diets consumed by rural adolescents in these countries. The aim of this project was to understand the gender and socio-economic stratification of their diet with a dual, descriptive-analytic focus on dietary diversity (DD) and consumption of ultra-processed and deep-fried foods. Methods: This thesis builds upon cross-sectional analyses of data collected during 15-year follow-up of the MINIMat (Maternal and Infant Nutrition Interventions in Matlab) trial, from September 2017 to June 2019. Data on dietary and socio-demographic variables were collected through household survey; using a pre-tested, structured questionnaire. A single, 24-hour recall was employed to assess consumption of staples and non-staples arranged in 10 groups, ultra-processed foods (UPF) in four groups, and of one group of deep-fried foods. Data were analyzed using logistic regression models. The analytic sample comprised 2463 adolescents. Results: The prevalence of inadequate DD was 42.3% (40.3-44.2). Consumption of dark green leafy vegetables, vitamin A-rich fruits and vegetables, and animal-source foods–except fish–appeared low. The proportions of adolescents consuming meat, egg and dairy were higher among those from the richest households than those from the poorest households, and among boys than girls. Belonging to the poorest households (adjusted odds ratio (aOR): 1.59; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.27-2.00) and the food insecure households (aOR: 1.34; 95% CI: 1.13-1.59), and attaining secondary education (aOR: 1.38; 95% CI: 1.11-1.71) were positively associated with inadequate DD. Adolescents having mothers with secondary education or above had lower odds of inadequate DD (aOR: 0.76; 95% CI: 0.60-0.96). Gender was not an independent predictor of inadequate DD.Approximately 83% (81.5-84.4) adolescents reportedly consumed at least one ultra-processed or deep-fried food in the 24 hours preceding the survey. Packaged confectioneries were the most consumed and sugar-sweetened beverages (SSB) the least consumed UPF group. Boys had greater odds of consumption than girls for all UPF groups and deep-fried foods. The association was strongest for SSB (aOR: 2.57; 95% CI: 1.97, 3.37), followed by deep-fried foods (aOR 1.96; 95% CI: 1.66, 2.32). Belonging to the richest households was associated with consumption of ready-to-eat foods (aOR 1.55; 95% CI: 1.12-2.16) and of SSB (aOR: 1.44; 95% CI: 1.02-2.03). Adolescents with higher educational attainment had lower odds of consuming SSB (aOR 0.73; 95% CI: 0.54-0.98). Conclusion: The studies presented compelling evidence of limited DD concurrent with emergent consumption of ultra-processed and deep-fried foods in a rural cohort of adolescents. Inadequate DD was more likely among those from the poorest and the food insecure households. For ultra-processed and deep-fried foods, gender association persisted across the food groups with boys having a greater likelihood of consumption than girls. Wealth status influenced consumption of “instant” foods and SSB only. This suboptimal dietary pattern may place the adolescents at heightened risk of different forms of malnutrition.

Bangladesh and India share 54 transboundary rivers. Despite that, the transboundary water management between these two countries is heavily concentrated on the Ganges river basin, in which, mode of cooperation is still based on physical sharing of water. The study is developed on the argument that Bangladesh and India need a shift of focus in their current mode of transboundary water management from physical sharing of water to sharing of benefits derived from the use (and non-use) water in order to foster transboundary water cooperation in the Ganges river basin. Based on a single-case study, the research work aims to explore the scope of benefit-sharing in the transboundary water cooperation in the Ganges river basin and how benefit-sharing can be facilitated between these two countries. The findings show that the water negotiation in the Ganges basin would become much more complicated in the future, primarily due to the growing gap between the demand and the availability of water. The adverse impact of climate change will further deteriorate the situation. Besides, the changing nature of India’s domestic politics and the growing internal conflict between its provincial states will weaken the Indian central government’s authority to manage transboundary water resources jointly. Therefore, in the future, Bangladesh and India would find it difficult to elicit a positive-sum outcome from any water negotiation in Ganges river if they still focus on the volumetric allocation of water. The study suggests that inland navigation and water transit, multipurpose storage dam projects and joint management of the Sundarbans can be the potential areas for benefit-sharing in the Ganges basin. The study stresses the importance of shifting the policy outlook and developing institutional arrangements between Bangladesh and India to introduce and facilitate benefit-sharing in the Ganges river basin that will help to share benefits equitably, hence foster cooperation.

Abstract Background: Although the maternal mortality ratio has dropped globally, the ratio is still unacceptably high in many low and lower-middle-income countries, like Bangladesh. Maternal deaths can occur from preventable complications due to pregnancy and childbirth. Delivery at a health institution was proven to be one of the key interventions to minimize maternal mortality. This study aimed at investigating the associations between the socio-demographic and healthcare-related factors, and the place of delivery among ever-married women of reproductive age in Bangladesh.  Methods: A population-based cross-sectional study was conducted with 4487 ever-married women, aged 15-49 years. Data were extracted from the 2014 Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey. To investigate the associations, multivariate logistic regression was performed.   Results: Of the 4487 ever-married women, 1794 (40%) gave birth by institutional delivery. Multivariate logistic regression showed that wealthier women, attending secondary or above education levels, and whose husbands had primary or above education were more likely to deliver at health institutions. Women who received counselling about danger signs and attended at least one or more ANC visits during pregnancy had higher odds of institutional delivery. Women living in rural areas, following Islam religion, and who were currently working were less likely to deliver at health institutions. Conclusion: The current study revealed that the socio-demographic and healthcare-related factors were associated with the place of delivery among ever-married women of reproductive age in Bangladesh.

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Background Diarrhea is a common diseases and each year around 5 billion children suffer from this diseases globally. According to BDHS 2017-18, 21% mothers had no education. Moreover, maternal education might consider to be one of the important aspect which plays a great role to diarrheal incidence. So the aim of this study is to explore the association between level of maternal education and recent episode of diarrhea among under five children in Bangladesh. Method The quantitative cross-sectional study utilized the secondary data from Bangladesh Demography and Health Survey (BDHS) 2017.Data was collected from Women’s Questionnaire and total 8398 mothers having  children aged 0-59 months were selected. Descriptive analysis, crosstab chi-squared tests, and logistic regression analyses were conducted to describe the background characteristics of the participants and explore the association between exposure and outcome of interest. Result Approximately 5% of the children had diarrhea and 17% of the mothers had higher level of education. Children whose mother had higher education had 30% lower risk of having diarrhea (OR=0.70, CI 0.44-1.13) compared to the children having uneducated mother. However, findings revealed that there is no significant association between maternal education and the incidence of diarrhea in the study population.  Conclusion  Based on this study, maternal education has no association with diarrhea among under five children. However, there might be several other factors responsible for the reduction of diarrheal diseases other than maternal education.

The significance of human capital development (HCD) from an organizational perspective is adequately reflected in the extant literature; however, its inherent connection with total quality management (TQM) philosophy is yet to be investigated. Hence, this study intends to explore the role of HCD in implementing TQM philosophy and to develop a comprehensive HCD framework in this respect. The labor-intensive Bangladesh ready-made garment sector is used as the research site since the phenomenon under inquiry is not readily evident in the chosen setting. The interpretivist worldview is espoused in this exploratory research to accomplish the research aim. Correspondingly, an inductive approach followed by a qualitative multiple case study methodology is adopted. Five (5) RMG establishments are purposively selected as case organizations. Thirty (30) in-depth interviews (6 from each case organization) are conducted, using the semi-structured interview technique to generate rich and thick primary data. Reflexive thematic analysis is manually performed to analyze the interview transcripts. Findings imply that HCD engenders three major effects: reduced costs of operations, improved product quality, and on-time shipment. Thereby HCD ensures greater customer satisfaction and loyalty, which is the essence of TQM philosophy. Empirical evidence specifically suggests that HCD can contribute to TQM implementation by empowering employees to reliably participate in problem solving and decision-making, innovatively perform tasks, and effectively accomplish appropriate changes in work processes and procedures. This study contributes to the knowledge by evidencing the fact that an HCD framework integrating both learning and healthcare interventions has an explicitly positive nexus with TQM philosophy. / Commonwealth Scholarship Commission in the UK

Bangladesh is known as one of the most climate-vulnerable countries in the world, especially the southwest coastal region. This area frequently experiences extreme weather such as cyclones, storms, waterlogging, droughts, and high levels of salinity. These events are projected to intensify further with climate change. Moreover, scholars have emphasized that women in Bangladesh bear the heaviest burden from environmental challenges in terms of vulnerability, exposure, and adaptation. This study aims to illustrate the reality and everyday life of emotions and thoughts of women living under these kinds of circumstances. To do so, 10 semi-structured interviews were conducted with women living in three different villages in the southwest coastal region of Bangladesh. The purpose investigates how environmental challenges affect women living in this region in terms of health, mobility, livelihood, and social- and economic security. In addition, this study explores how these women look at the future as well as how they live their everyday life in an area affected by environmental challenges. The ambition was not to find comparable answers, rather to illustrate a variety of women’s realities and challenges. The gathered material was analyzed through previous research and the theoretical frameworks of IPCC’s Conception of Risk and Feminist Political Ecology (FPE).     The results show that women are affected in several ways by environmental challenges because of socially constructed gender roles that are governed by patriarchal principles in the society of Bangladesh. These principles further state the positioning of women and that they hold reproductive-, domestic-, and productive roles that further enhance their vulnerability, exposure, as well as ability to cope and adapt to environmental challenges. Moreover, geographical location and poverty are also two key factors that play a crucial part in how women experience environmental challenges and ability to cope and adapt to these.

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