NAP Development

The NAP was developed through a participatory approach that incorporated civil society organizations into the NAP’s development through multiple consultations, a national seminar, and a validation workshop conducted prior to the NAP’s approval. 

WILPF does not have a country section in Bangladesh and therefore was not involved in the development process of its NAP.

The NAP was developed through a participatory approach that included governmental and non-governmental organizations. The meetings of the NAP Coordination Group were overseen by Bangladesh’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. 

NAP Implementation

An inter-ministerial Coordination Group, which includes two civil society representatives, will be responsible for implementing and monitoring the NAP. Additionally, the NAP indicates that Bangladesh’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs “will coordinate to mobilize civil society organizations working in relevant programmatic sectors to support the implementing agencies, to deliver results and create greater impact” (p. 12). 

An inter-ministerial Coordination Group will be responsible for implementing and monitoring the NAP. Additionally, individual ministries are tasked with implementing specific activities identified in the action plan.   

NAP Monitoring and Evaluation

An inter-ministerial Coordination Group, which includes two civil society representatives, will be responsible for implementing and monitoring the NAP. Additionally, the NAP indicates that a Consultative Platform of civil society organizations will be established to enable civil society inclusion in the monitoring, reporting, and evaluation process of the action plan.

An inter-ministerial Coordination Group will be responsible for implementing and monitoring the NAP. Bangladesh’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs will oversee the establishment of a monitoring and evaluation team.   

The implementation period of the NAP is three years (2019-2022).

The NAP identifies three pillars through which to implement the action plan: 1) prevention, 2) participation, and 3) protection, relief, and recovery. The overall objectives of these pillars are as follows:

Prevention: To engage more communities and institutions in initiatives to promote social cohesion and prevent conflict, violent extremism, and gender discrimination. 

Participation: To increase women’s meaningful participation in maintaining peace and security, including peacebuilding and conflict resolution processes, peacekeeping missions, disaster management and response, humanitarian assistance, and the prevention of violent extremism. 

Protection, relief, and recovery: To protect women’s safety and well-being and to ensure that their needs, priorities and rights are addressed in the emergency situations of natural disasters and humanitarian crises.

The NAP’s three main pillars each have an overall objective, which are then broken down into sub-objectives (referred to as “outputs”). While the first and second pillars (prevention and participation) each have one output, the third pillar (protection, relief, and recovery) has three outputs. For example, the pillar on “prevention,” lists “key government institutions have increased their awareness and knowledge of the root causes of conflict and violent extremism and how to address them, including an understanding of the role women play in preventing conflict and violent extremism” as an output (p. 14). This output is then broken down into specific activities, one of which is as follows: “Commission research on the root causes of conflict and violent extremism in Bangladesh and their effect on women, including a mapping of existing research on gender and violent extremism and the roles women play in preventing violent extremism” (p. 14). 

The NAP identifies several indicators for each objective, outlined in the implementation matrix. For example, the outcome for the overall objective of the prevention pillar lists “Number of research initiatives conducted on the root causes of conflict and violent extremism, the role of women, and their effect on women” as an indicator.

The annual progress of the NAP’s implementation will be jointly monitored by the Coordination Group and the Consultative Platform through a multi-tier monitoring plan. The Coordination Group will develop a “standard, results-based reporting template” (p. 13) to monitor the NAP. Based on the indicators identified in the monitoring framework, sex and age-disaggregated data will be collected. Each ministry and department or division represented on the Coordination Group will appoint a contact person to lead internal monitoring and reporting. Additionally, Bangladesh’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs will oversee the establishment of a monitoring and evaluation team. Relevant ministries and departments or divisions will submit annual progress reports to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The monitoring and evaluation team will then consolidate these reports and present them to the Coordination Group and the Consultative Platform for review and feedback. Finally, a thorough review of the overall NAP implementation will be conducted at the end of three years, and the NAP may be revised for a further period upon consultations with stakeholders.

The NAP indicates that the action plan “will be funded primarily by the state budgeting mechanism” and that each responsible ministry will incorporate WPS actions into their individual budget, which is already gender-responsive. Additionally, the NAP states that “additional resources from prospective international and multinational development partners will be sought” (p. 12). However, the NAP does not include an overall allocated or estimated budget.

The NAP does not address disarmament or demilitarization.