Bangladesh has achieved impressive progress in women's status and gender equality, but access to reproductive health services, labor markets, physical security and role of women in decision-making need urgent attention, said a World Bank (WB) report on Thursday.

It said Bangladesh's success in girls' education is now well- known. Boys are at risk of being left behind and this could potentially have serious impacts on social and familial cohesion.

The report emphasizes that despite increasing education and declining fertility, women's labor force participation rates are very low although they have doubled in the last 10 years. Women's employment in South Asia is among the lowest in the world and Bangladesh is at the lower end of the South Asian spectrum.

The report titled "Whispers to Voices: Gender and Social Transformation in Bangladesh" launched in Dhaka said women's role in decision-making is still small and restricted to the domestic sphere. And low access to land and property is an important part of their low voice in decision-making. It said less than 10 per cent of all women and less than 3 percent of younger women have their names on marital property papers like rental agreements or titles to land or a homestead.

Source: Xinhua General News Service, 14 March 2008