Bangladesh's only female big-city mayor may also be its most effective
NARAYANGANJ, Bangladesh — This Muslim-majority nation may have a female prime minister, but at the local level it remains difficult for women to gain and hold political power.
Salina Hayat Ivy knows this better than anybody.
<< Health care is another key priority for Ivy, who is a doctor by training. With help from the Asian Development Bank, Narayanganj is building four hospitals. Ivy turned down a proposal to set up one of them, a maternity hospital, in her own constituency. Instead she singled out Kadam Rasul, an area nestled on the east side of the Shitalakkhya River, accessible mostly by boat. The hospital has enabled women to deliver birth at one-third the cost of private clinics and without having to make the dangerous river crossing while laboring. "This was life-saving, in an area where home delivery was the norm," says Hasib Mahmud, a medical officer for the city. >>
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