IT is with mixed feelings that we note the promises articulated by contending women councillors for Dhaka north and south city corporation polls at a Prothom Alo roundtable. Mixed because while we hail their pledges to make the cities safer for women, among other things, we cannot help but feel skeptical about how politically empowered they will actually be.

The fact that there are no women mayoral candidates is in itself very disappointing. Political parties are not making enough efforts to ensure a robust participation of women in local government. As for the women councillors, the low number of contestants compared to their male counterparts speaks volumes about how skewed the representation is. 

At the discussion, activists pointed out the need to provide basic amenities for women in slums and fair wages for women garment workers, issues that have been ignored for years. The pledges given by the women ward councillor candidates included greater security for women, providing day care centres and forming citizens groups to prevent sexual harassment of women and girls. They also promised to introduce a more efficient garbage collection system, better drainage, proper lighting of the streets and freeing parks from illegal encroachers.

In the event that many of these candidates do get elected for the regular positions as well as the reserved seats, we can only hope that they are given the required resources and authority to deliver on their promises of a cleaner, safer, more liveable city. The government must play a proactive role to make sure that happens.