A Ray of Light

The delegates of the conference.

As a Bangladeshi, Tasmiah Tabassum Rahman, Manager, Communications and MRM, SkillFULL, Swisscontact, was grateful when she heard stories of human rights abuse in South Sudan, Kenya, Rwanda, Pakistan, Afghanistan etc. “As I heard of the struggles and loses of war, I felt humble and truly thankful for the little we have right now,” she says.

She, along with Marufa Akter Mimi, programme manager, BRAC institute of Governance and Development heard first hand experiences from women coming from different parts of the world with diverse experiences. This allowed them to respect the experiences of women less privileged than Bangladeshis.

Peace is in the past. Today, there is a conflict or another in every other country. Turn on the news or open the paper, Ukranian rebels blew off a whole plane killing 298 innocent people, the Israelis are murdering innocent civilians including children in Gaza, civil War in Somalia and Syria and the list can go on. Amid all this violence and terror, Women in Public Sector Project (WPSP), founded by the US Secretary of State in 2011, brought together 50 emerging women leaders from 21 different developing countries, who are working to rebuild their communities and promote sustainable economic livelihoods in post conflict countries. Amid all this darkness, WPSP brought together a ray of light.

Tasmiah and Marufa – the two Bangladeshi delegates.

Tasmiah and Marufa were the participants in the two-week long Institute WPSP from May 25–June 6, 2014 co-hosted by Mount Holyoke College, Simmons College and Smith College, “Reconstructing Societies in the Wake of Conflict: Transitional Justice and Economic Development.”

By helping the delegates build the leadership skills, energy and commitment to tackle today's complex global challenges, WPSP aims to empower a new generation of women to enter the public sector from countries where women are not only most likely to face some sort of discrimination and oppression at workplaces but the difficult political state of the country makes it even harder to succeed.

“Raising my voice and showing unity in the moment for greater gender equity and women's emancipation, were few important aspects of my learning in WSPS,” says Marufa. She is hoping to hold this courage up and work in the path for ensuring the human rights agenda for Bangladeshi women.

“I think these conferences are highly motivating. Especially when one sees that you are not alone with crazy ideas of social change and reform! In today's world, where conflict and war are of abundance, human rights are not even considered and poverty is in rampant; sharing such experiences across the globe can be of some reconciliation and hope,” says Tasmiah.

Marufa believes that the networking aspects of the institute were rightly rated high. “Participants noted that they gained more confidence and faith in the need to approach politicians or, vice versa, to establish stronger ties with NGOs and grassroots organistions.”

WPSP strives to produce emerging women leaders in the public sectors of the developing countries. With a female prime minister, a female speaker and a female opposition party leader, Bangldesh is no stranger to women leaders. However, there is still a long way till every women reaches self actualisation. Until then, projects like WPSP are what the world demands.
 

Although the experience was highly valuable, not enough Bangladeshi women applied to the programme, making Bangladesh underrepresented. To keep updated about the programme, you can visit http://www.smith.edu/wpsp/ and also, follow them on twitter @WPSPProject.