Women’s Participation in Union Parishads and its Influence on Administrative Performance in Rural Bangladesh

Women inclusion in local governance was emerging as a key instrument for fostering inclusive, accountable and effective rural administration in Bangladesh; however the role of women participation on Union Parishad administrative performance was not adequately assessed. The study was to assess women's participation in Union Parishad decision-making, political and administrative empowerment, community and development activities, institutional support, and find out how women perceive the influence in administrative performance. A cross-sectional quantitative research design has been used on 400 respondents including Union Parishad representatives, officials, community members, citizens and others. Data were collected by a structured questionnaire based on five-point Likert scale and analyzed with SPSS as through descriptive statistics, reliability analysis, and correlation and regression methods. Results showed that the level of community and development participation had been quite high (M = 3.85), while political and administrative empowerment (M = 3.73) and decision-making participation (M = 3.72) were moderate high. Institutional support was rated somewhat favorably (M=3.66), while overall administrative performance had remained average. The perceived effect of women representation on administrative performance was also moderate (M = 3.04) more towards the accountability, decision making, transparency and inclusive development among other areas. The study found there was a positive role of women in local governance, but it was restricted and less effective due to insufficient power; an absence of necessary information and training; and inadequate institutional arrangements. This was why strengthening substantive participation and institutional capacity had been proposed as prerequisites for improved Union Parishad administrative performance.