SERAC-Bangladesh participated in the CSW70 Asia-Pacific Preparatory Meeting held at the United Nations Conference Centre in Bangkok, contributing to critical regional discussions on dismantling discriminatory laws and strengthening access to justice for women and girls.
Representing SERAC-Bangladesh and the Asia-Pacific Alliance (APA), SERAC’s Executive Director, SM Shaikat, brought forward youth-led and community-rooted perspectives from Bangladesh into this important United Nations process. His intervention highlighted the urgent need to move beyond policy reforms and ensure that justice systems are accessible, affordable, and trusted by women and girls.
In his speech, SM Shaikat emphasized a key challenge facing gender justice efforts across the region:
“Even progressive reforms lose impact when women cannot afford legal support or trust the system to protect them.”
This message resonated strongly with the meeting’s focus on translating legal reforms into tangible outcomes for marginalized communities. While many countries in the Asia-Pacific region have adopted progressive laws to promote gender equality, persistent structural barriers- such as high legal costs, limited legal aid, social stigma, and weak institutional accountability, continue to prevent women and girls from accessing justice.
SERAC-Bangladesh underscored that dismantling discriminatory laws must go hand in hand with strengthening legal aid systems, improving institutional transparency, and building community trust in justice mechanisms. The organization also stressed the importance of youth engagement and grassroots leadership in shaping inclusive and sustainable legal reforms.
The CSW70 Asia-Pacific Preparatory Meeting serves as a crucial platform for governments, civil society organizations, and regional stakeholders to align priorities and strategies ahead of the 70th session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW70). SERAC-Bangladesh’s participation reaffirmed its commitment to advocating for equitable justice systems and amplifying the voices of young people and communities often excluded from policy-making spaces.
As SERAC-Bangladesh continues its work to advance gender justice in Bangladesh and beyond, the organization remains dedicated to bridging the gap between legal reform and lived realities- ensuring that justice is not only promised, but accessible to all women and girls.