LocationsHow Women Across Rural and Urban Bangladesh are Building Opportunities through Digital Centres
September 26, 2026
Reshma Khatun still remembers what she earned on her first day at the Dignagar Union Digital Centre in Jhenaidah, a district in southwestern Bangladesh, BDT 50 (USD 0.41).
It was not much. But for Reshma, it meant something.
Married at 14, she continued her education despite financial hardship and eventually completed a degree in Bangla. When she became an entrepreneur at the Digital Centre, she saw more than a job. She saw a chance to earn her own income and become known in her community for her own work.
That matters, particularly for women in rural Bangladesh.
Digital Centres were introduced in Bangladesh around 2010 to make public and private services easier to access, especially for people living far from government offices or struggling to navigate increasingly digital systems. From an initial 4,501 centres, the network has grown to more than 9,500 across rural and urban Bangladesh.
UNDP has been working with the Government of Bangladesh through Aspire to Innovate, or a2i, to strengthen this model, including by building entrepreneurs’ skills and supporting more inclusive, citizen-centred digital services.
But the more interesting story is what women have done once that door opened.
At Dignagar, Reshma became the person people approached for government documents, online payments, banking, telemedicine, and other services. Then she went further, introducing computer and handicraft training for local women.
She also noticed that children with intellectual and developmental disabilities in her community had few opportunities to learn. She decided to act and established the Ratanpur Intellectual Disability and Autistic School.
Today, the school serves 80 students with 13 staff members. Twenty adult students also produce organic fertiliser, creating an opportunity to earn an income.
“I did not want the Digital Centre to be only a place where people came for documents or online services. I wanted to use what I had learned and the trust I had built to create opportunities for other people too,” she said.
Rahela is helping people navigate through the digital system in her centre
In Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh, Rahela Rinku’s experience shows the urban side of the same story.
A former journalist and handicraft entrepreneur, sRahela joined a Digital Centre under Dhaka North City Corporation in 2015. Winning people’s trust took time.
Gradually, workers and small business owners began coming to her for banking and digital financial services. Many found online systems confusing or simply did not know where to begin.
“At first, people were not always comfortable using digital services. They were afraid of making mistakes or losing money. My job was often simply to sit with them and show them that they could do it,” Rahela said.
Over time, she became a familiar bridge between local communities and an increasingly digital economy.
“When someone comes back and tells me that a service helped them run their business or manage their money more easily, that is what gives me satisfaction. It means the centre is doing more than processing a transaction,” she said.
Reshma and Rahela live in very different settings. One works in a rural community. The other works in the heart of the capital.
Yet the opportunity created by the Digital Centre connects them.
Digital inclusion cannot simply mean putting services online. It has to mean that people can actually access and use them, wherever they live.
And when women like Reshma and Rahela help their communities cross that divide, they are doing more than delivering services. They are earning incomes, building businesses, gaining recognition and creating opportunities for others.