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'National Conference on Mental Health Services for Survivors of Human Trafficking' held
The "National Conference on Mental Health Services for Survivors of Human Trafficking" was held in Dhaka Wednesday.
Winrock International organised the conference in collaboration with the Department of Clinical Psychology of the University of Dhaka.
Representatives from the National Trauma Counselling Center, National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), and the Embassy of Switzerland in Dhaka, mental health professionals, UN bodies, INGOs, and NGOs, and mental health caregivers, supported by the Ashshash project, were present.
Ashshash works in partnership with public and private-sector service providers to deliver counselling, legal services and economic empowerment support to men and women who have escaped trafficking. The four-year project is funded by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation and implemented by Winrock International.
Mental health caregivers shared their experiences on capacity-development initiatives that created increased access to mental health services at grassroots levels.
The importance of psychosocial support in improving the quality of life of the survivors, ensuring their overall wellbeing, and enabling self-reliance, was also highlighted throughout the session.
Ashshash's beneficiaries – the survivors, exhibited the direct result of the project's psychosocial counselling support; towards forging mental resilience and enabling their successful journeys toward reintegration.
Kamal UA Chowdhury, professor of the Department of Clinical Psychology at the University of Dhaka, highlighted the overall context of provisioning psychosocial counselling support at grassroots levels, the associated challenges, and potential scopes of intervention through collaborative efforts, moderation of existing resources, and capacity development of mental health caregivers at grassroots levels.
Read: Government increased its efforts to prevent trafficking
Mohammad Shaheen, joint secretary at the Ministry of Social Welfare, endorsed the ongoing work of the project and stated that in the future, he envisions institutionalising mental healthcare service provision.
Dr Bidhan Ranjan Roy Podder, director of NIMH, said: "We operate institutionally and projects such as Ashshash works at grassroots levels. This gap must be bridged to ensure the effective provision of counselling services."
Suzanne Mueller, deputy head of mission at the Embassy of Switzerland, said several ministries, governmental agencies, NGOs, and INGOs are working to deliver the care and support needed by the victims.
"However, we need to come up with a comprehensive referral structure by integrating all the service providers under a singular standard operating procedure," she added.
3 held over snatching of JnU student Parisha's phone
Police Tuesday arrested three members of a ring, dealing in stolen mobiles, from Dhaka's Karwan Bazar for their involvement in the snatching of the mobile phone of Jagannath University (JnU) student Parisha Akhtar.
The accused are Md Ripon alias Akash, Md Shafiq and a juvenile whose name has not been released.
On July 21, a youth snatched the phone of Parisha, a student of zoology at JnU, while she was on a bus in Karwan Bazar, Rubaiyat Zaman, additional deputy commissioner Of Dhaka Metropolitan Police's Tejgaon Zone, said Wednesday.
However, Parisha quickly got off the bus and caught a suspect and she also beat him up. Her friends caught another suspect.
Read: 6 ‘robbers’ held in city
The bravery of Parisha and her friends took social media by storm.
A general diary was registered with the police and a case was also filed in connection with the incident, the ADC said.
After checking CCTV footage, Tejgaon Police arrested a juvenile from Karwan Bazar. He initially said he did nothing. However, the juvenile later admitted his involvement and named another person called Ripon alias Akash.
"During interrogation, Ripon also admitted his involvement. He sold Parisha's phone to Md Shafiq, who buys stolen handsets, for Tk4,000. Shafiq was arrested along with the stolen phone from Karwan Bazar Tuesday," the ADC said.
Freelancing training can make underprivileged women skilled, self-reliant: Study
Online freelancing training can have a significant positive impact on the employment and income of underprivileged women, according to a study by the BRAC Institute of Governance and Development (BIGD).
However, success in freelancing may be hindered by steep competition in the online marketplace, the resultant loss of confidence, and time constraints in learning and building their portfolio due to household responsibilities.
Findings from the study were disseminated at a workshop held Wednesday in Dhaka. The workshop brought together government officials, trainees and implementers to discuss the ways forward to develop an inclusive and sustainable ecosystem for women freelancers in Bangladesh.
The mixed-method study evaluated the impact of a freelancing training programme, conducted by Coders Trust Bangladesh (CTBD), which targeted women aged between 18 to 35 years.
The programme "Women’s Skills Development for Freelancing Marketplaces" aims to develop 1,000 young underprivileged women into freelancers by providing them free training on different ICT-related skills and building their confidence through post-training technical mentorship and career advising support.
Women who received the training had a 28 percent higher employment rate, and a 53 percent increase in monthly income from both freelancing and non-freelancing sources, compared to women in the control group who did not receive the training.
Read: The Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic in the Freelancing Industry: Can You Sustain?
However, constraints such as lack of family support, access to digital devices and connectivity, language barriers, and lack of time drove many women to drop out of the training programme.
Dr Imran Matin, executive director of BIGD, said: "Youth unemployment is a ticking time bomb for Bangladesh; we must address it with urgency."
Ataul Gani Osmani, Country Director, CTBD said, "If you want to earn online, you must learn online."
However, Lopita Huq, research fellow at BIGD, said: "We have to weigh the pros and cons before involving women in online freelancing in Bangladesh."
Energy sector requires an effective national policy: Speakers
Speakers at a discussion on Wednesday stressed the need for formulation of an effective national policy and framing the Integrated Energy and Power Master Plan (IEPMP) in line with the policy in order to ensure good governance in the power and energy sector.
Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) and Bangladesh Poribesh Andolan (BAPA) jointly organized the discussion titled “Challenge for Good Governance in Coal and LNG Power Projects in Bangladesh: What to Do for Ensuring Integrity in IEPMP formulation” in the city’s Bangabandhu International Conference Centre, said a press release.
Read: TIB for formation of neutral commission for banking sector reform
The speakers said the policy framework of the country’s energy sector is largely held hostage to investors and donors concerned due to the implementation of its plans and projects depends on donors, local and foreign investors in many cases.
Due to legal weakness, policy framework and lack of transparency, the use of fossil fuels is harming the country and its people. But no significant steps are seen to control it despite of the government's commitment in the field of renewable energy, they said.
The speakers said it’s necessary to formulate an effective national policy and IEPMP in light of the policy to ensure good governance in the power and energy sector.
The chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Environment, Forest and Climate Changes Saber Hossain Chowdhury MP spoke at the function as the chief guest, while TIB Executive Director Dr Iftekharuzzaman delivered the welcome speech.
Director General of Power Cell under the Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Engineer Mohammad Hossain, Honorary Professor of Geology Department at Dhaka University Badrul Imam,
Chief Executive of Bangladesh Environment Lawyers Association (BELA) Syeda Rizwana Hasan, Research Director of Center for Policy Dialogue (CPD) Khandaker Golam Moazzem, Dean of the Engineering Faculty at Daffodil University Professor Shamsul Alam also spoke in the panel discussion moderated by BAPA general secretary Sharif Jamil.
PM mourns death of AL leader Abu Saleh
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Wednesday expressed deep shock and sorrow at the death of former Gano Parishad Member, former general secretary of Chattogram South unit of Awami League and valiant Freedom Fighter M Abu Saleh.
Read: PM mourns death of ex-MP Abbas Ali
“The senior Awami League leader in his student life discharged his duties as the president of Chattogram district unit of Chhatra League and he will be remembered and followed by the present and future generations,” she said.
The Prime Minister prayed for the eternal salvation of the departed soul and expressed sympathy to the bereaved family.
Scope for politics gets limited: GM Quader
Jatiya Party Chairman GM Quader on Wednesday bemoaned that the atmosphere for doing politics in Bangladesh has now become limited.
“There’s no politics in the country… the people’s freedom of expression has also been squeezed. It is a great threat to democratic practice,” he said.
GM Quader, also the deputy opposition leader in parliament, was speaking at a meeting with ex-leaders of Chhatra Samaj at the Jatiya Party Chairman’s Banani office.
He said their party has been working for establishing people's freedom of speech and the freedom of individuals. “We are doing politics to ensure the voting rights of the mass people.”
Read: Bangladesh can become bankrupt due to debt liability: GM Quader
Stating that people’s right to elect the representatives of their choice through elections has been snatched, the Jatiya Party chief said their party will carry out a movement to establish the rights of all people.
Former student leaders M Helal Uddin, Anwar Hossain Tomar, Humayun Khan, Delwar Hossain Khan Milon, Faisal Didar Dipu, Jatiya Party central executive committee member Shamim Ahmed Rajib, AKM Sajjad Parvez, Rezaur Razi Swapan Chowdhury and Rakib Khan, among others, were present at the meeting
Tariff & land main obstacle to the solar power: Nasrul Hamid
State Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Nasrul Hamid has underlined the need for finding new sources and better use of modern technologies to face the challenges in the energy sector.
He said that tariff and land availability have been the main obstacles to promotion of solar power in the country.
He made the remarks while British High Commissioner to Bangladesh Robert Chatterton Dickson called on him at his office at the ministry on Wednesday.
During the meeting they discussed bilateral issues of mutual interest.
Read: E-waste management should be safe and environmentally friendly: Nasrul Hamid
The state minister said it is essential to boost energy conservation activities.
"The government has been working sincerely to promote clean energy. The process of importing hydropower electricity from Nepal is at the final stage”, he told the British envoy.
He also discussed the nationally determined contribution (NDC), climate change, local and sub-regional power sharing, power import, nuclear energy, renewable energy, solar home system, smart grid, primary energy, net metering system, electric vehicle, lithium battery, onshore and offshore wind power systems.
Senior climate and environment advisor Anna Balance and climate change policy manager Marjan Nur were present on the occasion.
Nagad's Jhalak scoops up 'Best Emerging Director in Fintech' award
Maruful Islam Jhalak, executive director of mobile financial services (MFS) provider Nagad, has been named the "Best Emerging Director in Fintech" 2022 by UK-based news magazine The Global Economics.
The Nagad executive director is the first individual from Bangladesh's fintech industry to earn this award in the leadership category. Through the award, The Global Economics recognises leaders who strive hard to bring revolutionary changes to their economies.
Jhalak, who oversees the technical aspects of the MFS, played a vital role in the implementation of concepts such as E-KYC and D-KYC.
Global Economics recognised Jhalak for these innovative fintech solutions.
He was instrumental in pioneering the process of opening accounts by dialling *167#; known as D-KYC, according to a media statement.
Jhalak said: "I am humbled and thrilled that The Global Economics has recognised my contributions. Nagad has introduced numerous game-changing innovations that have altered the country's financial industry landscape."
Read: Nagad becomes world's fastest-growing fintech company after conquering local market: Palak
This year, The Global Economics honoured 20 top executives from all around the world for their extraordinary contributions to their respective industries.
Earlier, Nagad received the "Best DFS (Digital Finance Service Award)" 2021 of The Global Economics.
Flood death toll rises to 137 as one more die
One more person died due to floods across the country in the 24 hours to Wednesday morning.
The number of reported fatalities, from May 17 to August 3, rose to 137, according to the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
Of the deceased, 77 were from Sylhet, 43 from Mymensingh, 16 from Rangpur and one from Dhaka divisions.
Read:Unilever Bangladesh donates Tk 50 lakh to employees affected by flood
One hundred and seven people drowned in the floodwaters, 18 died in lightning strikes, two from snake bites, one from diarrhoea, and nine due to other reasons.
Also, around 28,540 people were hit by floods during the same period.
Forty-four upazilas were affected by floods, including 33 in Sylhet, three in Rangpur, seven in Mymensingh and one in Chattogram divisions.
Sylhet, Sunamganj, Netrokona and Moulvibazar were the worst-hit districts, with 13, 11, seven and five upazilas affected by floods, respectively.
Bangladeshi expat killed in UAE road crash
A Bangladeshi expatriate was killed after being hit by a private car in Ajman city of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on Tuesday night.
The deceased was identified as Md Kamal Uddin, 38, of Mirsharai upazila of Chattogram.
Khwaja Mainuddin, a neighbor of Kamal in the UAE, told his family that Kamal was hit by a speeding car while crossing the road in the city at night.
He was rushed to a nearby hospital where doctors declared him dead on arrival.
Kamal had been working in a laundry shop in the UAE for the last 17/18 years, he added.
Read: Bangladeshi expat killed in Brunei road crash