The Pathways of Gender Empowerment project which is housed in the Development Studies Program (DSP) of BRAC University held a scoping workshop in Rajendrapur from the 19th to the 21st of August 2006. The workshop was attended by participants from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Brazil and Ghana. The sessions were very lively, and the papers presented concentrated on reviewing the main steps taken for women's empowerment in the region over the last 30 years. The project will go on for another 3 and a half years, and its main objective is to understand and take forward the conditions that have led to women's advancement in the region.