Story of 4 male role models in WorldFish Bangladesh office

1. Our Male Role Models &
Their Inspiring Stories
20 November 2018
Ramisa Nawar, Sadiyya Sultana, Saima Ali and Shimsad
Narmeen

2. Process
• Anonymous voting by women in the Dhaka office
• Selection of 4 champions/role models based on # of votes
• Four volunteers took up responsibility to interview 1 champion
each
• Open-ended guiding questions provided
• Cases and pictures compiled
Coming up:
• We will take votes from women in field offices and write case
studies for the remaining champions over the next few
months.

3. The names that came up
• Malcolm Dickson
• Benoy Kumar Barman
• Khandaker Hasib Mahbub
• Md. Ashik Reza
• Anisuzzaman
• Zakir Hossain
• Rayhan Hayat Sarwer
• MHM Mostafa Rahman
• Md. Hafijur Rahman
• Md. Nahiduzzaman
• Md. Sahidul Islam
• Md. Shohorab Hossain
• Zohurul

4. Story of Role Model/Gender
Champion
Mr. Khandker Hasib Mahbub, IT
Ramisa Nawar
HR Assistant; r.nawar@cgiar.org

5. Early Life
Mr. Hasib grew up in a typical middle class
family with his parents and sister. He was
raised in a society where women had
predetermined gender roles.
Growing up, the ideas of equity and equality
were not fully explicit to him. As he stepped
into adult life, started a job and got married,
he slowly started to understand them.

6. It’s been 17 years since Mr. Hasib and Ms.
Keka Yasmin got married. They have two
beautiful children together: a son, Sabahat
Mahbub (16), and a daughter, Linnea Mahbub
(6). They’re the source of his inspiration.
Ms. Yasmin was only 18 years old when she
got married. Mr. Hasib always sympathized
and acknowledged the fact that she had to
leave her family at such a young age. He
appreciates her support and the huge
contribution to his family, especially to his
children.
He tries to help her with chores as much as
possible and looks forward to spending time
with her.
Family

7. The way he treats his female colleagues
sets him apart!
Mr. Hasib always thinks before saying
something, irrespective of both men and
women. But he is more careful with women.
He believes in “positive discrimination” as our
society hasn’t been completely favorable for
women yet. He tends to give women priority.
This has increased since the birth of his
daughter.

8. Challenges
As this quality was not inherited, he had to go through a self-development
process to change his own mindset and get out of his in-built views and
perceptions.
His advice to other men is to change the way the society looks at women, have
the right attitude and don’t be intimidated by women’s success.
Views on feminism
Mr. Hasib considers himself as a feminist. He believes that society has a big
misconception about it. People think feminists are haters of men, rather it is a
common goal: to define, establish, and achieve political, economic, personal,
and social equality of the sexes.

9. Message to his children
“Be a better version of your father to be a better gender champion”

10. Story of Role Model/Gender
Champion
Md. Ashik Reza, Data Analyst
Sadiyya Sultana
Project Management Assistant;
sadiyya.sultana@cgiar.org

11. How he treats his colleagues
I personally always treat my female colleagues with respect,
giving them the same amount of respect as I would towards a
male colleague.
I always try to keep my relationships professional, always
maintaining a space where my colleagues can feel comfortable
with me, and ensuring that I don't say something that might be
taken the wrong way or make the other person feel
uncomfortable.
At the end of the day, this is a workplace where everyone should
feel comfortable with the people they work with, and I do my
best to always ensure that.

12. Challenges to gender equity in
Bangladesh
Society in general is not as adaptable or flexible to change.
I believe that until the rates of literacy among both men and
women improve in the country, a gender equitable approach will
be hard to implement.
I also believe that men and women cannot be on the same
page until their levels of education, which are currently unequal
opportunity structures, match.

13. Stance on feminism
• I agree with feminism within the context of Bangladesh.
• The position that women occupy in Bangladesh is critical.
• A larger part of the society still does not support female
empowerment, especially when it comes to women’s
economic improvement or employment.
• Thus most jobs still remain heavily male dominated, with
the expectation that men should be providers for their
families.

14. Stance on feminism (cont’d)
• This in itself is a form of pressure on men as well, because
it is not fair to them to be the sole earners.
• Not allowing women to work also takes away their autonomy
in decision making, making them dependent on the sole
income earner of their family, which is usually a male.
• Therefore, the concept of feminism may be used as an
approach or framework within which things can be improved
for women in Bangladesh.

15. Story of Role Model/Gender
Champion
Dr. Benoy Kumar Barman, Senior Scientist
Saima Ali
HR Manager; s.ali1@cgiar.org

16. Attributes that make Dr. Benoy a role
model/gender champion
• He feels women colleagues have
equal rights and high potential.
• The contribution of men and
women are equal in developing
the world.
• Women in Bangladesh and
developing countries are not yet in
a strong social position because
of environmental/social stigmas.
• If we can create that environment
there will be no difference.
• He does not stereotype. He
believes women can do whatever
men can.

17. Growing up and personal life
• Dr. Benoy always felt women
were not treated the way they
should be.
• He took the responsibility of
educating his sisters and fought
for them against social stigmas
and all odds. They’re all very
successful now.
• For him, this attribute is an innate
quality.
• In his personal life, Dr. Benoy
chose to marry a working
woman.
• He has given equal education
opportunities to both his daughter
and son.

18. In one of his projects, he went against all odds and hired an equal
percentage of men and women.
“Women are more careful about household nutrition and the project had
wonderful outcomes.”

19. Perceptions
• His perception towards gender changed when he studied gender in his PhD
program.
• He considers himself a feminist.
• He is an optimistic person and likes to dream big.

20. Role models
Grandmother
Mother

21. What needs to be done?
• He believes WorldFish needs to identify potential female
candidates and provide an enabling environment.
• Individual improvement and better awareness are also
required.
• Culturally women are very deprived. He says to change the
status of women in society people’s mentality needs to be
changed.

22. Story of Role Model/Gender
Champion
Dr. Malcolm Dickson, Country Director
Shimsad Narmeen
Portfolio Assistant; s.narmeen@cgiar.org

23. Gender impact from early days
• Grew up in a household with a lot
of strong women role models,
despite gender roles, including a
female head of the household
(grandmother).
• Witnessed the array of
sacrifices women usually have
to make, especially in terms of
employment.

24. Misperceptions about feminism
• Misperception that feminism is
anti-male and discriminates
against men.
• In reality, feminism is just looking
for equal treatment for women.
• This equal treatment does not
exist.

25. What do men fear about equality?
• Loss of power.
• Feeling that there will be less male power if women have
power.

26. What is needed?
• We need a level playing field.
• Bangladesh has made significant progress, but we still have a
long way to go because the attitudes are so deep rooted,
• I hope the generations coming up will find it easier.

27. What advice would you give other men?
• Women should have the
opportunity to pursue their
goals.
• It’s pointless to ignore the ability
and talent of 50% of the
population.

28. Men can be – and are! – agents of change
"The measure of intelligence is the ability to change."
Albert Einstein
"We cannot change our past. We can not change the fact that people act in a
certain way. We can not change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play
on the one string we have, and that is our attitude.”
Chuck Swindoll
“Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent.
It takes a touch of genius—and a lot of courage—to move in the opposite
direction.”
Albert Einstein

29. Thank You