Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Wednesday (September 20, 2023) said gender equality is not an option but rather an imperative to achieve a fair and just world. “Our efforts to achieve peace, prosperity, progress, and sustainability would yield no result if half of the world’s population were left behind,” she said. The prime minister was speaking at the annual meeting of the UNGA Platform of Women leaders titled ‘Accelerating the implementation of SDG5 towards achieving Peace, Prosperity, Progress and Sustainability’ held at the United Nations Headquarters. Saying that every country is different and they have different challenges and different social and cultural dynamics, she, however, stated that when historic Agenda 2030 was adopted, all were committed to achieving gender equality. “We cannot back out of that commitment under any circumstances,” she said. Major economies must make fair share to avert impending climate crisis: PM Hasina at UN Hasina mentioned that as women leaders, all have a responsibility to stand by all women and create examples that can guide others. “We must leverage our position and power to achieve a gender-equal world,” she added. In this connection, she shared two specific points. These are: First, all must enhance their partnership base to make gender equality a norm across all sectors. The private sector needs to come forward to advance women’s participation at a higher level. “As leaders, we need to engage with them and encourage them to take bold initiatives in that regard," she noted. Second, all need to elevate their narrative from participation to leadership. Women must be in a leadership position to be able to influence decisions and make positive impacts in the lives of other women. PM Hasina attends banquet hosted by President Biden “And the UN must lead by example. It is regrettable that no woman has so far been appointed as the UN Secretary General. Time has come; we will have one soon.” Talking about Bangladesh, Sheikh Hasina said that guided by the constitutional commitment, the government has adopted the necessary laws and policies to ensure women’s equal participation in all walks of national life. “We invested heavily in girls’ education and women’s economic empowerment. Girls’ education has been made free up to the 12th grade. We are providing stipends and free books to students up to the secondary level.” She also said that the government has ensured that 60 percent of the school teachers at the primary level are women. “We have taken specific policy actions to encourage women's entrepreneurship and help them access financing. We have ensured concessional loans for women entrepreneurs.” World must learn from past mistakes to prevent another pandemic like Covid-19: PM Hasina tells high-level UN meet She mentioned that the government has established the Joyeeta Foundation to promote and support women in business initiatives. “We opened the doors for women in higher positions in government bodies. Women are now becoming judges of the highest court, ambassadors, higher positions in civil administration, the armed forces, law-enforcing agencies, vice chancellors of public universities, and so on. On the political spectrum, women are represented at all levels, from the top to the lowest tier of the government.” The prime minister said that the government has ensured women's and girls' access to ICT and digital platforms. There are 12,292 union and municipal digital centres that were run by a woman and a man. “We are providing training for women to work as freelancers. Our target is to achieve gender parity in the ICT sector, including tech start-ups and the e-commerce sector. We are one of the first countries to introduce gender-responsive budgeting.” In this regard, she said that thirty percent of our budget is allocated for women's development activities. She mentioned that women in Bangladesh have also been an integral part of our continued efforts to achieve sustainability. “Our gender-equal disaster response plan has earned us global recognition.” She said that the investments in women's development have given the country its dividends. “Today, women’s contribution to GDP has reached 34%. Economic empowerment has also enabled women to play a greater role in decision-making, both in their families and in society.” Read more: US Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom meets Foreign Secretary Masud Bin Momen in New York

Referring to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's leadership, Ambassador of Finland to Bangladesh with residence in New Delhi Ritva Koukku-Ronde termed Bangladesh a global role model in many aspects, including women’s empowerment and gender equality. She also lauded the socio-economic advancements taking place in Bangladesh. The ambassador had a farewell meeting with State Minister for Foreign Affairs Md. Shahriar Alam at the latter’s office on Tuesday and discussed issues of mutual interest. The state minister thanked the Finnish ambassador for her efforts and contributions in further strengthening bilateral relations between Bangladesh and Finland. Also Read: Erdogan hints Turkey may ratify Finland's NATO membership He briefed the Finnish ambassador on the steady socio-economic development of Bangladesh over the last 14 years under the visionary leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. The state minister also touched upon Bangladesh’s achievements in green RMG factories, solar home systems and women’s increased participation in the workforce, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Also Read: Finland’s Parliament gives final approval for NATO bid The two sides also discussed various other bilateral and international issues of mutual interest and concern, including renewable energy and waste to energy, digital technology and cybersecurity, shipbuilding and ship-recycling, bio-based material development, climate change, food and energy security, Rohingya crisis, war in Ukraine and cooperation in international fora.    

International Women’s Day is being observed in the country today (march 08, 2023), as elsewhere across the globe, with focus on gender equality and empowerment of women. This year’s theme, ‘DigitALL: Innovation and technology for gender equality’, highlights the role of innovative technology in promoting gender equality and meeting the health and development needs of women and girls. International Women’s Day is observed every year on March 8 to put focus on women’s ongoing struggle for equality. Also Read: Top 10 International Scholarships for Women to Study Abroad Different organizations have chalked out elaborate programmes, including rallies, discussions and cultural events, to mark the day. Bangladesh's President Md Abdul Hamid and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina have issued separate messages on the occasion. Bangladesh Television, Bangladesh Betar and private television channels are airing special programmes while newspapers published supplements highlighting the significance of the day. Also Read: UN secretary-general says women’s right are under threat

The US has said ensuring young women's equal access to education is central to gender equality. Women and girls have the right to learn, innovate, compete, and succeed in the global economy, it added. The US is working to make this vision a reality through its Global Women's Economic Security strategy. From January 21 to 22, US Senior Official to the Secretary of State in the Office of Global Women's Issues Kat Fotovat participated in the 10th Commencement Ceremony of the Asian University for Women (AUW) in Chattogram where she delivered remarks and met with students and faculty. Read More: FBCCI signs MoU with AUW to award scholarships to 30 students annually

International Women's Day is being celebrated in the country, as elsewhere across the globe, on Tuesday recognising female leadership on climate change adaptation and response for a sustainable future. The theme for this year's International Women’s Day is 'Gender equality today for a sustainable tomorrow'. "The year 2022 is pivotal for achieving gender equality in the context of climate change, and environmental and disaster risk reduction, which are some of the greatest global challenges of the twenty-first century," the UN Women said in a statement. Also read: Greatest Films Featuring Women in Science “Without gender equality today, a sustainable future and an equal future remains beyond our reach,” it said. The campaign theme for International Women's Day 2022 is #BreakTheBias. In fact, International Women’s Day is observed every year on March 8 to celebrate women’s movement and struggle for equality, in the face of deeply entrenched patriarchy. To mark the day, different organisations have chalked out elaborate programmes. Five women will be honoured with ‘Joyeeta Award’ this year at an event arranged by the Ministry of Women and Children Affairs later in the day. Education Minister Dipu Moni will chair the event at Osmani Memorial Auditorium in the city. This year’s Joyeeta awardees are Sanzida Akter Shimu from Shirajganj upazila in Razshahi division for scripting success in the economic sector; Dr Hossain Ara Arzu, associate professor at Rajshahi University for her contribution to the education sector, Khoshnahar Begum from Chattogram division as a successful mother, Jesmin Akter from Barishal division for fighting against oppression, and Rokeya Begum from Rangpur division for her contribution to social development. Also read: BAJUS honours 3 leading women of jewellery industry On the eve of the day, President Md Abdul Hamid and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina issued separate messages, greeting all women across the world. Bangladesh Television, Bangladesh Betar and all private television channels have lined up special programmes for the day.

Gender equality is a prerequisite for a sustainable tomorrow, Dr Saleemul Huq has said. "Women's rights will be ensured only when gender equality is established. It has been observed that women and girls are disproportionately impacted by the adversities of climate change," said Dr Saleemul, director of the International Centre for Climate Change and Development (ICCCAD). He made remarks at the webinar "Women Breaking Biases for Climate Justice," aligned with International Women's Day 2022  theme "Gender equality today for a sustainable tomorrow," organised by ActionAid Bangladesh Sunday ahead of March 8. Read:UN: Climate change to uproot millions, especially in Asia Dr Saleemul also mentioned that women's voices, responsibilities, and knowledge of the environment and the challenges they face need to be the central part of the adaptive response to a rapidly changing climate. "Although significant progress has been made by women across the globe since countries came into an agreement about the importance of women's participation in climate action at the 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference, everyone – including young people, scientists, researchers, owners of multinational companies– must play an important role in solving this problem." Dr Mahbuba Nasreen, professor and founding director of the Institute of Disaster Management and Vulnerability Studies, University of Dhaka, said when climate-induced disasters hit any community, it is the women and girls who are hit hardest. "Research shows violence against women increases after a natural disaster because of increased traumatic stress, scarcity of basic supplies, and destruction of authoritative systems." Runa Khan, founder and executive director of non-governmental organisation Friendship said: "Most of the char dwellers are climate migrants. Erosion of chars is putting millions of people at health risk. Nevertheless, women are making remarkable differences in their communities. They are participating in decision-making and mobilising themselves to take initiatives to address the ongoing climate crisis." Read: Dickson impressed by joint efforts to construct climate-resilient infrastructure in Bangladesh Farah Kabir, country director of ActionAid Bangladesh, said because of climate change, women in Bangladesh face greater challenges compared to men due to increased sexual harassment during any crisis. "Increased water-related stresses all over Bangladesh are leading to increased school dropouts of girls and child marriage; tripled burden because of displacement and migration associated with climate change impacts." Despite these challenges, she said, women in Bangladesh have demonstrated enormous capacity to respond to emergencies efficiently through increased women empowerment and decision-making ability of women.

Ann Linde, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Sweden, has stressed the importance of connecting gender equality to sustainable development and economic growth. “We cannot disregard half of the world’s population. We say that the Swedish Government is the world’s first feminist government, and as Foreign Minister I lead a feminist foreign policy," she said while addressing a discussion.  The Swedish Embassy in Dhaka, the International Labour Organization (ILO), and the Global Deal, in the context of the Team Europe Initiative ‘Decent Work’, jointly organized the panel discussion on Monday titled “Social Dialogue as an Enabling Mechanism for Gender Equality on the Labour Market – Experiences from the RMG-sector in Bangladesh”.  The Swedish Minister said a natural part of this policy is to work for gender equality, including in the labour market. In today’s globalized economy, globalization must work for all.  "Strengthening gender equality on the labour market is not only the right thing to do, it is also the economically smart thing to do in any society." The Minister for Foreign Affairs of Sweden also stated that both Sweden and Bangladesh had been partners from the start of the launching of the Global Deal Initiative, adding that she looked forward to continuing to work together on these important questions.  Md. Shahriar Alam, State Minister for Foreign Affairs, also spoke. The panel discussion was moderated by Tuomo Poutiainen, Country Director, ILO Country Office for Bangladesh.  READ: Teen takes over Swedish Embassy in Bangladesh for a day The panel gathered a broad range of relevant stakeholders sharing their experiences and consisted of Veronica Nilsson, Global Deal, Head of Unit in the Directorate for Employment, Labour and Social Affairs (ELS), OECD; Begum Shamsunanhar Bhuiyan MP, National Trade Union Representative, Member of the Parliament and Member to the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Ministry of Labour and Employment; China Rahman, General Secretary at Federation of Garment Workers’, Women’s Affair Secretary at IndustriALL Bangladesh Council (IBC); Dr. Rubana Huq, former President of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA); Ziaur Rahman, Regional Country Manager at H&M and Shirin Akhter MP, President of the National Workers Alliance, Member of Parliament and Founder President of Karmojibi Nari (KN).  During the seminar, the EU delegation gave a presentation of some of the early findings of their study “Mapping Trade Unions in Bangladesh: Current Dynamics and Challenges”.  The seminar, which was arranged as part of the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence Campaign, aimed at discussing how women’s active participation in the labour market can be strengthened including through exploring how Social Dialogue can contribute as a mechanism to this end.

Bangladesh Youth Leadership Center (BYLC) has joined hands with the Netherlands Embassy in Dhaka to help 3,000 youths develop leadership skills. On Tuesday, BYLC formally inked a pact with the Dutch Embassy for the phase 2 of its ambitious Building Bridges through Leadership Training (BBLT) and Building Bridges through Leadership Junior (BBLTJ) programmes. Read:BYLC launches Volunteer Awards 2021 Under the agreement, BYLC will train 3,000 youths from diverse backgrounds, instill in them values of inclusiveness and pluralism, and engage them in active citizenship. BBLT and BBLTJ participants will design and execute 375 community service projects in local communities and serve 37,500 community people.  They will work to solve critical social issues such as women empowerment, gender equality, climate change, access to education for all, social cohesion and community building, and health and hygiene. Over the next five years, the most promising 60 community service projects will receive scale-up support. Read: BYLC Youth Leadership Summit 2021 aspires for a more inclusive future Graduates of the program will have improved leadership skills, social and communication skills, higher-order thinking skills, emotional intelligence, moral understanding, ideological tolerance, public speaking, civic awareness, and project management skills, according to BYLC. Dutch Ambassador Anne van Leeuwen said, “It is inspiring to see the huge impact of BYLC’s leadership programmes. The BBLT and BBLTJ programmes are the most important initiatives I have witnessed in the short time that I’ve been in Bangladesh.” On his part, Ejaj Ahmad, founder and president of BYLC, said, “Through this project, BYLC aspires to train the next generation of courageous, compassionate, and competent leaders who will lead Bangladesh into the future and make meaningful contributions in different sectors.” Read: BYLC Summit: Struggles, challenges of marginalised groups spotlighted at plenary BYLC’s journey in Bangladesh began in summer of 2008 with the pilot Building Bridges through Leadership Training programme, which was funded by the Davis Projects for Peace Prize and MIT Public Service Center. Over the past 13 years, the organisation has grown from a small living room project to a thriving institute with 6,000-plus alumni, many of whom have distinguished themselves as successful entrepreneurs and capable professionals in public, nonprofit and private sectors.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has said the world needs to act urgently to stop the rollback of hard-earned women empowerment due to the Covid-19 pandemic. “Our hard-earned progress is at risk of rollback. We need to act urgently to stop this. For that, we must place women at the front and centre of Covid recovery,” she said. The Prime Minister said this while addressing the High Level Meeting on Women Leaders conveyed by the President of the General Assembly Volkan Bozkır at the Trusteeship Council of the United Nations Headquarters on Tuesday. She highlighted three points — localising the Advisory Board on Gender Equality, nurturing women-led organizations and convening a leaders’ summit to reinforce common agenda for gender equality -- to bring women progress back on track. About the summit, Hasina said, “All leaders – not just us - should join and present concrete commitments for advancing gender equality.” The Prime Minister said the Covid impacts have been especially hard for women. “Unpaid care work has increased. Gender-based violence has risen. Unicef anticipates additional ten million child marriages before the end of this decade.” Read: Covid: A catalyst for women entrepreneurship in Bangladesh! In Bangladesh, she said, emphasis has been put on women empowerment. In their political empowerment, Bangladesh ranked 7th in the world. Increased number of women is joining the workforce.

Bangladesh Policewomen Network (BPWN) Strategic Plan (2021-2023) was launched on Tuesday which seeks to ensure gender equality in the country’s police force and empowerment of female police officials. The event was jointly organized by UN Women Bangladesh and BPWN Bangladesh Police Headquarters in the city. The Strategic Plan aims to ensure higher gender equality within the police force through meaningful participation, representation, contribution, progression, and empowerment of female police officials, as well as safety and security of women and girls. It will also act as an important steppingstone for Bangladesh Police to fulfil its commitments within the Bangladesh National Action Plan for Women, Peace and Security (UNSC resolution 1325), over a 3-year period.   Speaking at the function, Mia Seppo, UN Resident Coordinator in Bangladesh said male-dominated teams with few women leaders do not cut it. "Gender parity across ranks is critical to ensure that the specific needs of women and girls are reflected in decisions at all levels. BPWN leads the way in the Bangladesh Police toward gender equality, reaching Zero Tolerance on Sexual Harassment, and raising awareness of gender-based violence,” she said. Read: All police personnel to get rank-based training by next year: IGP Seppo further stressed on the importance of senior level engagement in realizing the Bangladesh National Action Plan on Women Peace and Security. Inspector General of Police Dr. Benazir Ahmed  said they are committed to creating an enabling and conducive working environment for all women police officials that is free from all forms of harassment. In this regard, alongside the male police officials playing their part, the women police officials too, need to voice their rights as well, he said. "This practice of gender responsive policing needs to start from our homes.” Calling the Strategic Plan, a comprehensive and forward-looking guideline, the IGP also said that this will ensure a broader representation of women police officials within the country and help strengthen the vision of gender responsive policing. The BPWN provides a platform to 15,000 female police officers for professional growth in terms of improved services, trainings, modern healthcare and inclusion of new techniques. BPWN strategy was initiated in 2018 with the support from UN Women, to strengthen the platform. Read: Govt sends 2 senior police officers into retirement Five strategic aims that BPWN will proactively implement within the next three years, were presented by Amena Begam, DIG (Protection and Protocol) SB, Bangladesh Police and President of BPWN. They are: maximize women contribution in Bangladesh police, increase representation of women in Bangladesh Police across all ranks and departments, support the development and progression of women throughout Police, promote appropriate working environment across police, maximize the contribution of the BPWN in supporting Bangladesh Police to provide a gender responsive policing service thereby improving safety and security of women & girls within community. “The case for diversifying the role for women in policing has never been stronger. It is critical that every police service in the world ensures that women are at the heart of defining and delivering solutions,” said Senior Police Advisor to UN Women Jane Townsley, who has been supporting BPWN since its launch in 2008. Gitanjali Singh, Head of Office a.i. of UN Women Bangladesh, and Flora Macula, Head of Sub office, UN Women Bangladesh attended.