They also stressed the need for more in-depth research on the creative strategies that women adopt to cope with various adverse conditions.

The speakers were participating at the concluding session of the national seminar on 'Women in Challenging Situations in Bangladesh' organised by Dhaka University (DU) based Refugee and Migratory Movements Research Unit (RMMRU) in collaboration with the British Council on Thursday.

Referring to uncertainties that are likely to prevail for women garment workers in the post-MFA regime, Prof SMA Faiz, vice chancellor of DU, said time has come for the government, civil society and the private sector to devise creative strategies so that those who kept the wheels of the national economy running for the last two decades are not left alone when the difficult times set in.

Prof Faiz, who was the chief guest at the concluding session of the seminar, also made a plea for addressing the plight of the Bihari community and the riverbank erosion victims.

Prof Najma Chowdhury of DU, in her presidential address, cautioned that empowerment of a few prominent women must not be taken synonymously as empowerment of the amorphous body of women who are compelled to face challenging situations.

She said it is likely that the cumulative effect of sustained development would lead to overall empowerment of women in the long run.

Carl Reuter, director of the British Council, said Bangladeshi women have made major achievements on many fronts despite all odds.

There is a need for more sustained effort to portray such positive images of Bangladesh in international media, he added.

Six papers on vulnerabilities of trafficked women, women engaged in informal cross border trade, women in safe custody, wife abuse, vulnerabilities of sex workers and challenges faced by parents of disabled children were presented at the working sessions of the seminar.

Prof Naila Khan of Shishu Hospital, Dr Sumaiya Khair and Dr Nusrat Ameen of Law Department of DU, Kalpana Rani of Concern Bangladesh, Jalaluddin Shikder, Rezwanul Karim and Shahzada Akram of RMMRU authored the papers.

Prof Firdous Azim of BRAC University and Dr Iftekhar Zaman of Bangladesh Freedom Foundation chaired the working sessions.

A large number of students, researchers and representatives of government, human rights and women's bodies attended the two-day event.

A photo exhibition titled 'Women at Work' by M Atiq-ur Rahman was also organised on this occasion.