bdnews24.com :
Child marriage and violence against women in Bangladesh call for a “comprehensive approach”, the country representative of the UK development agency, DFID, has said.
Sarah Cooke, the DIFD official, said on the International Women’s Day, on Tuesday, that rates of child marriage and violence against women in Bangladesh were highest in the region, despite the country’s “very good” policies to tackle them.
“The key now is to implement those polices,” she told a couple of journalists including one from bdnews24.com.
Cooke leaves Dhaka this month at the end of her term as country representative for DFID Bangladesh, a post she has held since Oct 2012.
The UK is the largest donor of grants to Bangladesh. Most of its programmes aim at improving the lives of women and the girl child.
Bangladesh is globally lauded for its socio-economic progress, marked by women’s empowerment through education, employment and political involvement.
The country has also signed international conventions and adopted laws to eliminate violence against women.
The prime minister, leader of the opposition, the speaker of parliament, and the chief of the BNP, the country’s major opposition party, are all women.
Yet, government statistics show 87 percent of women face some form of violence – physical or mental. Two-third of the girls are being married off before the legal marriageable age of 18.
“You have good pieces of legislation. The challenge is implementing those, and changing norms and culture so that people don’t think it’s acceptable to marry before 18,” Cooke said.
“It requires a comprehensive approach,” she said, that includes working with boys and girls, and raising awareness of the problems of child marriage and violence against women that impede women’s development.
She, however, praised Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina for the commitment she made at the London girl summit to eradicate child marriage by 2041.
“We are working to support Bangladesh to deliver on those commitments,” she said, “I would love to return to Bangladesh at that time and see the changes.”
She said that, since her arrival in Bangladesh, she has been struck by “the confidence” she sees in women.
Citing examples, she said, under ‘a char livelihood programme’ for the poor river island people she saw how, with small economic assets, women transformed the lives of entire families.
They invest that asset and use that as “a springboard for a much better future”, Cooke said on the basis of her DFID project experience.
The UK government’s programmes are said to have helped lift 1.5 million people out of extreme poverty by the end of 2015 by providing training or assets to help people set up businesses.
The programmes also helped 1.4 million farmers and small businesses resulting in a net increase in income of £100 million.
Cooke said Bangladesh “is a development success story” and the UK would continue to support the country.
“We want to support Bangladesh become a prosperous and stable country and we feel we can help Bangladesh lift more people out of poverty,” she said.
Currently, the DFID is working on the next five-year development plan for Bangladesh, starting from this April.
She said their programmes are designed in a way to have “the biggest impact”.
She also stressed on “leaving no one behind” as the new sustainable development goals focused on inclusive growth.
“We need to make sure that we don’t leave anybody behind. The leadership by the government is really important,” she believed.
“We really want to see women and girls are given the opportunities that they are able to maximise their opportunity available to them,” she said.
“We want to unlock their potential and enable them to make full contribution to society and help them have a better life in their families”.
Child marriage and violence against women in Bangladesh call for a “comprehensive approach”, the country representative of the UK development agency, DFID, has said.
Sarah Cooke, the DIFD official, said on the International Women’s Day, on Tuesday, that rates of child marriage and violence against women in Bangladesh were highest in the region, despite the country’s “very good” policies to tackle them.
“The key now is to implement those polices,” she told a couple of journalists including one from bdnews24.com.
Cooke leaves Dhaka this month at the end of her term as country representative for DFID Bangladesh, a post she has held since Oct 2012.
The UK is the largest donor of grants to Bangladesh. Most of its programmes aim at improving the lives of women and the girl child.
Bangladesh is globally lauded for its socio-economic progress, marked by women’s empowerment through education, employment and political involvement.
The country has also signed international conventions and adopted laws to eliminate violence against women.
The prime minister, leader of the opposition, the speaker of parliament, and the chief of the BNP, the country’s major opposition party, are all women.
Yet, government statistics show 87 percent of women face some form of violence – physical or mental. Two-third of the girls are being married off before the legal marriageable age of 18.
“You have good pieces of legislation. The challenge is implementing those, and changing norms and culture so that people don’t think it’s acceptable to marry before 18,” Cooke said.
“It requires a comprehensive approach,” she said, that includes working with boys and girls, and raising awareness of the problems of child marriage and violence against women that impede women’s development.
She, however, praised Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina for the commitment she made at the London girl summit to eradicate child marriage by 2041.
“We are working to support Bangladesh to deliver on those commitments,” she said, “I would love to return to Bangladesh at that time and see the changes.”
She said that, since her arrival in Bangladesh, she has been struck by “the confidence” she sees in women.
Citing examples, she said, under ‘a char livelihood programme’ for the poor river island people she saw how, with small economic assets, women transformed the lives of entire families.
They invest that asset and use that as “a springboard for a much better future”, Cooke said on the basis of her DFID project experience.
The UK government’s programmes are said to have helped lift 1.5 million people out of extreme poverty by the end of 2015 by providing training or assets to help people set up businesses.
The programmes also helped 1.4 million farmers and small businesses resulting in a net increase in income of £100 million.
Cooke said Bangladesh “is a development success story” and the UK would continue to support the country.
“We want to support Bangladesh become a prosperous and stable country and we feel we can help Bangladesh lift more people out of poverty,” she said.
Currently, the DFID is working on the next five-year development plan for Bangladesh, starting from this April.
She said their programmes are designed in a way to have “the biggest impact”.
She also stressed on “leaving no one behind” as the new sustainable development goals focused on inclusive growth.
“We need to make sure that we don’t leave anybody behind. The leadership by the government is really important,” she believed.
“We really want to see women and girls are given the opportunities that they are able to maximise their opportunity available to them,” she said.
“We want to unlock their potential and enable them to make full contribution to society and help them have a better life in their families”.
