The process of women empowerment progresses at accelerated rate after achieving self-reliance by thousands of distressed women in recent years though they lived in utter poverty even a decade ago in rural areas.
Earlier, abject poverty forced these rural women to live amid untold miseries along with their children and other family members, especially during the seasonal lean period of ‘monga’ in Rangpur region.
A number of successful women said that it became possible only after attaining economic self- reliance through hard endevours at their own or under assistances of various social safely-net programmes of the government and NGOs.
They said the process of achieving sustainable socioeconomic uplift and women empowerment could be accelerated further by properly developing the country’s rural womenfolk and empowering them with equal rights at all levels.
Expressing their confidence, they said the women would become the driving force of the national economy in attaining complete literacy and stopping school dropouts if all of the downtrodden womenfolk could be made economically solvent. Talking to BSS, successful women Ful Banu, Parveen, Jasmine, Kohinoor, Chhoki Begum, Rashida, Shyamoli, Shirina, widows Nirmola Rani, and Indu Rani said they have achieved self-reliance by sewing handloom garments at their own homes.
Female labourers Mohsina, Bulbuli, Aklima, Morsheda, Sabina, Nasrine, Rozina, and Halima of differentr villages said they have achieved economic well-being by plucking green tea leaves and selling labours in recent years.
Aklima, Shyamoli Rani, Afroza, Jahura, Shudha Rani and Julekha said they have achieved success from various social safety-net programmes of the government like vulnerable group feeding (VGD) and employment generation activities.
According to these women, most of them have achieved self-reliance through sewing handloom garments, animal husbandry, rearing poultry birds, goats and sheep, selling labours, homestead gardening, farming fruits, spices, fish and agri-activities.
Many of them also have achieved success by farming early variety vegetables and setting up of small cottage industries, small enterprises and businesses, participatory social afforestation, micro-credit activities, VGD and other government programmes.
Besides, they have achieved self-reliance from successful implementation of the government’s social safety-net programmes for creating income- generating opportunities to alleviate rural poverty in recent years, they said.
Some of the women said they have been benefited from other programmes being implemented by different NGOs, donor agencies like World Food Programme (WFP), USAID, CARE Bangladesh and other organisations in attaining the success. “We are living well now and our sons and daughters going to schools though our days were miserable even a decade ago,” the successful women with smiling faces shared with BSS the success stories of winning against poverty, hunger and illiteracy.
Head of Programme Coordination of RDRS Bangladesh Monjusree Saha told BSS that the overall socioeconomic condition of the rural women, both in the mainland and remote char areas, has been improved significantly during the past five years.
“As a result of the economic self-reliance achieved by the distressed rural women, permanent eradication of the century-old seasonal job crisis of ‘monga’ has become possible by the government from the poverty-prone areas of Rangpur region,” she added.
She suggested for further strengthening of the local government bodies through empowering female union members and upazila female vice chairmen to accelerate development and empowerment of the women in building a middle income Bangladesh.
District Relief and Rehabilitation Officer of Rangpur Abdus Salam said the distressed rural women have achieved the tremendous success following massive pragmatic steps taken by the government for complete eradication of poverty once for all.
