State Minister for Women and Children Affairs Meher Afroze Chumki has said women enjoy equal rights in the family, community and society in Bangladesh.
She made the remark on Wednesday while speaking on ‘Enhance Social Protection for Poverty Reduction and Women’s Empowerment’ at the ongoing sixty-first session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW), being held from March 13 to 24 at UN headquarters in New York.
The event was co-hosted by the government of Bangladesh and the government of Canada supported by FAO and WFP, according to a message received here on Thursday.
The State Minister enumerated various measures and best practices which have taken place in Bangladesh with regard to social protection programme for women for empowering them and eradication of poverty as a whole.
Under the leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, she said, the government is working for the inclusive development of women and it has adopted 142 special programmes for social protection of the poor community where a significant number are women.
“National Women Development Policy 2011″ has been enacted to ensure Gender Responsive Budget and reserved the women’s right in Seventh Five Year Plan (2016-2020),” she said.
To develop women’s business skills, the government has established a foundation to develop the SME sector and launched programs for women, the state minister said.
Bangladesh women and children affairs secretary Nasima Begum joined the discussion and Permanent Representative of Denmark, Ambassador IB Peterson, Charg‚ D’ Affaires of Mission of Canada, Ambassador Michael Douglas Grant made remarks on the impact of social protection in eradicating poverty and bringing gender parity.
