Gender equality must for democracy
To build a truly democratic nation, it is necessary to create a society free from gender discrimination and recognise that gender issues include diverse topics ranging from discrimination against those of the third gender and inequality faced by women of differing religions and ethnicities, speakers told an international conference's closing yesterday.
The three-day "Gender Diversity and Development" was organised by Dhaka University'swomen and gender studies department with Chairperson Tania Haque chairing the discussions.
"You just cannot talk about women in general. There are different kinds of women and the problems faced by a poor woman and a rich woman or by women belonging to various ethnic groups are different," said eminent political scientist Prof Rounaq Jahan.
The women and children affairs ministry, Unicef Bangladesh, USAID Bangladesh, Care Bangladesh, Manusher Jonno Foundation (MJF), and Gender and Water Alliance and the Gender and Water Programme Bangladesh (GWAPB) sponsored the conference on the DU campus.
Over 400 participants from 10 countries including Bangladesh attended the programme where 76 papers related to gender were presented.
Prof Saskia E Wieringa of the University of Amsterdam, Chandni Joshi, founder president of Patan Jaycettes in Nepal, and Associate Prof Amrita Chachhi of Erasmus University in the Netherlands also presented their keynote papers.
"Without understanding gender diversity, it is very difficult to bring about women's development," said Shaheen Anam, executive director of MJF.
"The most fundamental thing we need to be aware of is that you cannot build a healthy society on the basis of discrimination," said Mahfuz Anam, editor and publisher of The Daily Star.
AIM Golam Kibria, additional secretary to the ministry of women and children affairs, said, "In Bangladesh we cannot yet sing the song of equality between men and women."
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