Bangladesh is one of the major labour-sending countries of the Asia-Pacific region. Revenue generated from migration is one of the driving forces of the economic growth. In the recent years, Bangladesh has recorder steady increase of female migration at the rate of 36%, 14% and 17% in 2016, 2017 and 2018 respectively. Poverty, gender discrimination and limited livelihood options in rural areas create a supply of women workers for countries with high demands for migrant workers.  South Asia and the Middle East are the main destination points for the female migration, where protection of migrant workers’ rights is not sufficient.

Migration is a big phenomenon in Bangladesh and returning migrants are a potential big asset for the country. However, despite improvements in the current legislation of Bangladesh concerning migrant workers with the Overseas Employment and Migrant Workers Act 2013 and the establishment of a decentralized online worker registration system in 2013, gaps remain in the legislation and implementation of national policies.

Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan are among the countries which are most vulnerable to climate change globally. Their populations are suffering from the severe impacts of a range of extreme and increasingly unpredictable weather events brought about by climate change; including droughts, severe heatwaves, erratic rainfall patterns, heavy rainfall, flooding, landslides, rising sea levels, cyclones and glacier lake outburst floods (GLOFs). These trends are taking a severe and rising toll on rural communities’ farming and harvests, farmers’ livelihoods, coastal fisheries, sources of fresh water and people’s lands, homes and safety.