One million signatures were collected under the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Ujjiban Social and Behaviour Change Project to end child marriage in the country.
USAID Mission Director Kathryn D. Stevens handed over the one million pledges to State Minister of Women and Children Affairs (MOWCA) Fazilatun Nessa Indira at an event entitled ‘From Commitment to Action: Ending Child Marriage in Bangladesh’ at a city hotel on Saturday.
Farida Parvin, Director General, Department of Women Affairs, MoWCA; and Kathryne Stevens, Mission Director, USAID, spoke at the function as special guests. Salima Ahmad, a Member of Parliament, also addressed it.
Expressing their utter concern, participants and stakeholders say though child marriage is illegal in Bangladesh, the practice continues.
Despite significant progress, Bangladesh has the fourth highest prevalence of child marriage in the world, they said, adding that over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, the incidence of child marriage has risen significantly.
In addition to the pledges, the event highlighted a new digital library developed by USAID’s Ujjiban Project in partnership with the MOWCA.
Housed on the MOWCA website, the digital library provides one-stop access to information on existing laws and other resources to prevent child marriage. The library also provides a collection of ready-made social behaviour change communication materials designed to enable the government and other stakeholders to reach broader audiences with messages developed specifically to end child marriage.
Speaking at the function, Fazilatun Nessa Indira said The country’s economic development cannot be achieved without women’s empowerment.
“Women are everywhere, the country is led by a woman, speakers are women, members of parliament are women, there are women in the police departments, the medical sectors and in the realm of business. The honourable prime minister, Sheikh Hasina and the GoB is committed to ensuring equality and the empowerment of women,” she added.
Farida Parveen mentioned MOWCA's safety net programme that caters to vulnerable women and provided basic food security to 104,000 women.
She also mentioned training and educating 4,883 youth clubs that are placed in different parts of Bangladesh.
Mission Director Stevens reiterated the United States’ commitment to supporting the Government of Bangladesh and its partners to build a country that protects and nurtures girls’ and boys’ abilities to succeed so that they are able to better themselves, their families, and their communities.
Dr Faisal Mahmud, Chief of Party, USAID’s Ujjiban gave the address of welcome. Dr Zeenat Sultana, Deputy Chief of Party, USAID’s Ujjiban gave a presentation on the child marriage situation in Bangladesh.
Md. Muhibuzzaman, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Women and Children Affairs (MoWCA) and Zakia Haq Neela, USAID’s Ujjiban, jointly shared the overview of the digital library.
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