Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Friday underscored the need for engaging the womenfolk in the fight against poverty to eradicate it from Bangladesh.
"We want to turn Bangladesh into a poverty-free country. However, we won’t be able to materialise our dream if we don’t take the womenfolk to the path to drive away poverty,” she said.
The Prime Minister was addressing a programme marking the inauguration of Begum Rokeya Day and distribution of Begum Rokeya Padak-2016 at Osmani Memorial Auditorium.
This year, the prestigious award has gone to Aroma Dutta and Begum Nur Jahan for their outstanding contributions to advancing the country’s women.
The Prime Minister announced to increase the number of award recipients to five from the next year to encourage more women.
She also said women rights will have to be realised by themselves as no one will come up with those in men-ruled society.
Mentioning that half of the country’s population is women, the Prime Minister said their development is a must for the country’s development. “If women don’t advance in education and other sectors, the society will never build up properly. All have to understand that
there is no chance of neglecting them,” she said.
The Children and Women Affairs Ministry organised the award distribution ceremony held with State Minister for Women and Children Affairs Meher Afroze Chumki in the chair.
The government introduced the award in 1995 after the name of Begum Rokeya, the pioneer of awakening women’s rights in the subcontinent.
The Prime Minister said that the government has created opportunities for education of the women folk through providing various stipends at
primary and secondary levels and scholarships for their higher education like degree, masters and even at PhD level.
Paying deep respects to the memory of great woman Begum Rokeya, Sheikh Hasina said for the emancipation of womenfolk, Begum Rokeya had taken pen in one hand while she had also engaged herself for construction of institutional structure for female education and
social organisations for their welfare.
Her struggle, sacrifice, brightness of thoughts and writings are still spreading glittering lights in the society, she said.
Recalling great contributions of the womenfolk during the war of liberation, the prime minister said, Father of the Nation Bangabandhu had taken massive steps for women emancipation and their political, social and economic development alongside rehabilitating the mothers
and sisters who suffered immense brutality of the Pakistani force and their local collaborators.
She noted that the Prime Minister, deputy leader of the house, opposition leader, speaker and a number of ministers are women in Bangladesh which is rare example in the world.
Women in Bangladesh are now working in every tire of administration, armed forces, law enforcing agencies, judiciaries and local government bodies to Jatiya Sangsad, from school-college to Universities and from air force pilots to the UN Peace keeping missions as well as in other challenging positions, she said.
Besides, their role in mass media as well as in sports and games is also very much commendable, she said.
The Prime Minister said her government would give more women in the positions of administration as they are doing well there.
She hoped that her government would be able to turn Bangladesh into a middle income country by 2021 and a developed one by the year 2041 with the coordinated efforts of male and female.
UNB/LY
