World Bank ‘Clear Her Path’ Global Competition: Alvee’s tech innovation for women’s empowerment wins big
Alvee has built a comprehensive training platform that aims to make sure that women in their workplace, campus and even at home feel safe and are equipped with the confidence to tackle any derogatory comments
You don't have to be a feminist to observe that, as a male trailing through life, you don't face the looks, comments, or glances that your female counterpart does.
History has failed to strike a balance in ensuring equality among genders. No matter the country or its economic status, sexism and discrimination against women are still prevalent, which is what initially sparked the invention highlighted today.
Abrar Jahan Alvee, a final-year CSE undergrad at BRAC, was one of those observant ones.
"I've seen countless situations where women wanted to speak up but hesitated, whether in a classroom, workplace or public setting. This hesitation often stems from fear of judgement, social backlash, or simply not knowing what to say in the moment. Those observations convinced me that practising these scenarios in advance could make a real difference," shares Alvee.
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His idea came to fruition when he decided to participate in the World Bank's #ClearHerPath Global Competition. Alvee's aptly named Boundary Project aims to empower women by making them aware of the certain ticks that keep the patriarchy breathing down their necks.
"I had been exploring how technology could be used to address confidence and safety issues for women, and this challenge felt like the perfect platform to present a proactive, skill-building solution," he recounts.
The project from heaven
Alvee has built a comprehensive training platform, not for any hard skill needing to be studied thoroughly but rather a malleable one, that aims to make sure that women in their workplace, campus, and even at home feel safe and are equipped with the confidence to tackle any derogatory comments that are ever so common.
"When a user visits the platform, she can select from different categories like workplace, home, street, or school. Each category contains realistic role-play scenarios."
The individual may see that a colleague is standing too close to her at work, maybe a relative is making an inappropriate joke, or someone is giving her a weird glance. No matter the situation, a prepared individual is much more confident as she could understand this is something to be expected.
"Once the scenario is chosen, the user speaks her response aloud, just as she would in real life. The platform uses voice analysis to instantly give feedback on three key aspects:
- Assertiveness — Was the tone firm and confident?
- Clarity — Were the words clear and unambiguous?
- Empathy — Did the response remain respectful while holding boundaries?"
Alvee terms Project Boundary as a "safe practice room" where women can try out different responses without real-world pressure or consequences. Over time, they can track their improvement in a progress dashboard, see their scores go up, and revisit challenging scenarios.
He believes there is a significant lack of social awareness among women in tackling these complex situations, as the responses require careful consideration both in respect of their position and their place in their social and family circles.
Moreover, any alternative that exists does not address the interstices of the mentioned social interactions.
"Most tools focus on emergency responses like SOS alerts, reporting apps, or self-defence classes. These are important, but they come into play after a problem has already started. There were very few tools focused on prevention, helping women prepare for uncomfortable or unsafe moments before they happen," explains Alvee.
Feedback from primary users
Such a project can have significant challenges when it comes to the implementation stage. That is why, although the tool is in its initial stage and confined to a static website, Alvee has already shared it with his colleagues. And the feedback has been noteworthy.
"Initial discussions with friends and colleagues highlighted an important consideration: they would prefer not to have their voice data stored. Several also suggested offering an option to record responses anonymously."
This highlights a similar aspect — even in the context of self-improvement, women are in fear of it not seeming malicious.
A deeply rooted insecurity is not possible to do away within a limited period. "If more women start setting boundaries clearly and consistently, it can gradually normalise assertiveness as a respected trait rather than something to be criticised. Over time, this challenges gender norms that expect women to always be accommodating."
The app is also unique. It certainly isn't just for women but also for bystanders — meaning men. We, who often stay silent whenever women in front of our eyes are continuously harassed, need much more re-education than our counterparts.
Alvee's project has a specific feature titled bystander activation aimed to do just that. "Many people want to help but don't know how. By training bystanders to notice, intervene and support, we create a culture where responsibility is shared, not left solely to the victim."
The #ClearHerPath competition
The World Bank initiated this competition, as the title suggests, to motivate young professionals and expand their creativity to resolve existing patriarchal issues. While statistics show women in South Asia are closing the education gap, many still hesitate to speak up at work, in class or at home.
"The World Bank's call for ideas felt like the perfect platform to turn this vision into action," expresses Alvee.
There is also a significant perk, as Alvee will now start his internship at the World Bank Bangladesh office as the sole winner from Bangladesh. "The World Bank brief aligned perfectly with my goal where I could use tech for social impact, so I entered with an idea."
"Since my background is in computer science and data analysis, I'm excited about opportunities where I can work with real development data to generate insights that help shape policy or programmes. At the same time, I want to gain hands-on experience in how large institutions like the World Bank operate and how ideas move from research to policy to implementation."
"If more women start setting boundaries clearly and consistently, it can gradually normalise assertiveness as a respected trait rather than something to be criticised. Over time, this challenges gender norms that expect women to always be accommodating."
The journey associated with the internship was a bit challenging, as his academics and part-time teaching role at Mentors' had to be balanced alongside the competition. The process began in April with idea submissions. Shortlisted candidates went through multiple evaluation rounds, including concept clarity, innovation, feasibility, and presentation to a jury. From 650 submissions, only six winners from six South Asian countries were selected.
"Academic commitments and my teaching role at Mentors' were one of the biggest challenges I faced. Managing classes, coursework, and lesson planning alongside research, design, and presentation prep for the competition required strict time management and personal discipline. There were many late nights spent refining slides after finishing teaching duties, and early mornings devoted to rehearsing my pitch before university lectures," shares Alvee.
According to him, the greatest aspect of the competition was his parents' happiness — seeing their son reach such a high pedestal.
"My parents, seeing them proud and smiling, knowing they could witness me win a prestigious, international competition, meant the world to me. My friends were equally thrilled, celebrating this milestone as if it were their own victory. The support and excitement from the people around me made the moment even more special."
Future with Boundary Project
"I plan to turn it into a mobile app, introduce multilingual support, and partner with universities, NGOs, and corporations to integrate boundary-setting training into their programmes."
Alvee shares his clear intention of taking his project forward. He believes this has wide applications in creating awareness and making a genuine impact. As a way of reaching that goal, his placement as an intern will definitely give him an opportunity to learn beyond the planning phase.
"I hope to learn how large-scale development projects are designed and implemented, gain insight into policy-level decision-making, and explore ways to integrate tech-based innovations into broader social programmes."
For ambitious youngsters wanting to make an impact, Alvee shares one crucial piece of advice: "Start by listening deeply to the people you want to help." But few of us are often unwilling to do so. Maybe that is the first step towards changing the world for the better, just as Alvee is well on his way to doing so.
