Social awareness for child marriage-free society stressed

block
BSS, Rajshahi :
Building social awareness among the community people, especially teachers, parents and influential leaders, has become an urgent need for reducing child marriage and child pregnancy substantially and sustainably, speakers at a mass-gathering here on Thursday afternoon.
They observed that adolescent-friendly reproductive health services need to be expedited and schoolteachers alongside guardians, particularly mothers, should be trained on the issue so that they can teach the students and other adolescents and guide them properly.
They were addressing a huge peoples function styled “Girls Child Day Celebration: Parents-Students Gathering and Theatre Show by School Students Groups” held at Sonaichandi High School playground under Nachole Upazila.
Agriculture Sustainable and Socio-Economic Development Organization
(ASSEDO) organized the programme in association with Prevention of Child Marriage and Child Pregnancy Project and Oxfam-Novib.
“Eradicating child marriage and child pregnancy is imperative in creating a glorious Bangladesh” was main theme of the training programme. Over 800 people both male and female comprising public representatives, schoolteachers, marriage registrars, religious leaders and other stakeholders joined the programme.
Upazila Chairman Abdul Kader addressed the discussion as chief guest while Vice-chairmen Mujibur Rahman and Protima Rani spoke as special guests with Upazila Nirbahi Officer Rashed Washif in the chair. ASSEDO Executive Director Rabiul Alam, Project Manager Ajahar Ali, Project Coordinator Mahabub Jaman and UP Member Shakhina Begum also spoke.
Chief Guest Abdul Kader said freeing the youth from various misconceptions regarding reproductive health is very vital and called for building a social resistance against child marriage and teenage pregnancies.
There is no alternative to creating community awareness through raising school-based awareness on adolescence for combating the existing rate of child marriage.
Responsive support from the community is very vital to ensure adolescent-friendly reproductive health services to all the target people for substantial and sustainable reduction of child marriage and child pregnancy.
Rabiul Alam said the project aims to involve community people so that they can play pivotal role in changing the social mindset on child marriage and child pregnancy. Besides, the venture intends to build awareness among the adolescents about their rights to reproductive health, he added.
The practice of child marriage is very damaging, especially for girls. It seems that girls are treated as burden to society, mostly in rural areas.
Terming child marriage as gross violation of human rights, UNO Rashed Washif said children are being married off frequently, despite multifarious interventions by the government and non-government organizations concerned.
It is vital to increase awareness regarding the negative impacts of early marriage with the help of the mass media.
He stated that utmost importance should be given to check early marriage of children. Otherwise, the family planning activities will go in vain and the violence against women would not reduce as well.
block