As a mother, I believe that children should never die before their parents.
Despite dedicated efforts of obstetric and gynaecology specialists to reduce maternal and infant mortality rates, address cancer and infertility, and achieve SDGs, their numbers are disproportionately inadequate to serve half the population of the country.
The Domestic Workers Protection and Welfare Policy 2015, which aims to safeguard the rights and well-being of over two million domestic workers -- mostly women and children -- have remained unimplemented for the past eight years due to the government’s lack of political will and negligence.
To address children’s death by drowning, the Ministry of Women and Children Affairs in February 2022 approved a childcare development and safety project with a budget of Tk 271.82 crore, with an implementation period of January 2022 to December 2024.
Archana Rani, 36, a homemaker from coastal upazila Assasuni in Satkhira, struggled for 23 years to collect drinking water from faraway sources that were often salty and contaminated with arsenic.
While many urban millennial men continue to view unpaid domestic work as something women do, a lot of men in the coastal areas of Khulna and Satkhira are taking up the job and sharing responsibilities with their wives.
The report, titled "Gender-Based Employment and Wage", said the percentage of female officials in public administration was 19.62 percent, while it was 22.64 percent in the field administration
Despite the government’s ambitious Digital Bangladesh agenda, a significant digital gender divide persists in the country, leaving women at a disadvantage in accessing and using ICT tools compared to men.
Young parents Ringku Mia’s and Shifa Akter’s world had turned upside down when their four-year-old daughter Farha was diagnosed with stage-4 cancer that originated from a tumour in her kidney.
In Abul’s slum, or “Abuler Bosti”, in the capital’s Bhashantek, one of the most frequented places is his grocery-cum-tea shop.
Hepatitis B virus is one that can be easily passed on from mother to child, putting the newborn at the risk of future liver cirrhosis or cancer.
To achieve the health rights of 3.6 crore adolescents in Bangladesh, the government developed the National Strategy for Adolescent Health and the National Plan of Action to implement it. However, a new study found that the implementation will fall short of addressing the diverse health needs of adolescents.
Eighteen-year-old Julekha Begum, of Tejgaon slum, was married off at 15 and is currently in the ninth month of pregnancy.
Kailash Satyarthi, an Indian social reformer who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize jointly with Malala Yousafzai in 2014, talks to the The Daily Star about the global child rights situation during his visit to Bangladesh on January 14-18.
Twelve-year-old Rubaiya’s world is limited to her bed. A resident of the Korail slum in the capital, she lives in a dark windowless tin-shed shanty. She has not seen a glimpse of the sky in the last three years. The last time she went on a trip outside was seven years ago, at her grandmother’s home in Cumilla.
The instalment of CCTV cameras in city buses by the Ministry of Women and Children Affairs has generated a positive response among female commuters as well as bus staffers, as they believe the initiative has brought a change in the behavioural pattern of the overall commuters.
What forces abused women to return to live with their tormentors even after repeated incidents of domestic violence?
Moriom Begum has been a victim of domestic violence ever since she got married in 2016 for not being able to pay dowry money.
Sabina, 33, a young professional from Rangpur, tries hard to forget about the horrific day in 2019, when she was raped by her uncle. But even after three years the memory of her ordeal is fresh and has turned her days into a harrowing quest for survival.
How much does a kilo of green papaya from Manikganj’s Singair upazila cost? Well, depending on whom you are buying from, the price can be anywhere from Tk 7 to Tk 25.
It has been 13 years since the High Court gave directives to form sexual harassment complaint committees in the workplace and educational institutions, but there has been little to no progress so far.
The much talked about Evidence Act (Amendment) Bill 2022 incorporating the admissibility of digital evidence by the court was passed unanimously in parliament yesterday.
It was almost one o’clock at night. A woman in her 30s was screaming for help from inside an auto-rickshaw near Farmgate. The roads were almost empty, and the few people nearby were reluctant to check what was going on, as they feared that they might land in trouble.
Sixty-year-old Asiya Begum, a resident of the capital’s Korail slum, lives in a tiny makeshift room made of tin, slightly larger than the size of a grave, with no ventilation or fan. At first glance, it might look like she has been buried alive.
Shantona’s parents started worrying about her height when she was four years old, as she was not growing as tall as the other children of her age.
Although Sustainable Development Goals target ending abuse, exploitation, trafficking and all forms of violence against children by 2030, Bangladesh is yet to go a long way in this regard.
The rate of caesarian deliveries has increased almost eight-fold in Bangladesh. In 2004, the rate stood at four percent. However, a recent analysis revealed that the rate was found to be 33 percent in 2017-18.
Violence against children not only obstructs the growth of children but also contributes to slowing down a country’s economy and social development, said child rights experts.
Hazera Begum never got married or had any biological children. Yet, she is the “ammu” (mother) to 40 children, who once struggled for their identities, for what their biological mothers do for a living.
Back in 2017, a baseline survey conducted by Kapasia Upazila Family Planning Office (UFPO), Gazipur found that more than 90 percent of the mothers-to-be of the subdistrict were unaware of the maternal and neonatal danger signs, the idea and importance of antenatal and postnatal care or keeping their medical records during pregnancies, the importance of knowing their own blood groups, and keeping contact of potential blood donors or an ambulance.
After her husband lost his job at a pharmacy in 2017, Leuza Akter Kristy’s family plunged into a struggle to put food on the table.
Last month, when 22-year-old Mitu Dhar was struggling to make her newborn stop crying at a private hospital in Dhaka, as she couldn’t produce enough milk for him, her family members got desperate to get some artificial milk for the baby.
Eighteen-year-old Falguni (not her real name) is the eldest of 40 siblings. After passing her HSC exams with a GPA of 4.08, she has made her “ammu” immensely proud.
Hazera, the mother of 40 children, has been proud of her oldest daughter who recently passed the HSC exam, and now dreams of doing something big and leading a life full of dignity.
A recent study on the prevalence of Hepatitis B and C virus among the Rohingya refugees in Cox’s Bazar has found that more than one in five Rohingya adults have Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection.
While covering a discussion on domestic violence last year, like many others in the audience, I was deeply touched by Rahela’s story of helplessness.
Rights activists have long been demanding effective gender sensitivity training for judges and lawyers dealing with cases of sexual violence so the victims, especially rape survivors, are treated with gender responsiveness and sensitivity throughout the legal process.
Fahima Begum, a 40-year-old domestic worker from Mirpur’s Kazipara area, was desperately running to print and photocopy shops in her area over two days in order to apply for the birth certificate of her five-year-old daughter Sathi.
In low and middle-income countries, many children die every year by drowning, usually when the parents are occupied with household chores or wage-earning activities.
Nine-year-old Jeba (not her real name) has been having a very difficult time with excessive genital bleeding and pain, which has limited her ability to walk.
Worldwide, young women and girls with disabilities face up to 10 times more violence than women and girls without disabilities, and Bangladesh is no exception.
Twenty-five-year-old Rima Rani Paul is currently in her eight month of pregnancy. When she visited the doctor recently, she was recommended a balanced diet, rich in nutrient-dense foods, as the fetus was not growing as expected.
Mohammad Harun, a sales executive at a ceramic store, was pleasantly surprised to see a handwashing station at the entrance to his office this July.
“It makes me so angry when I see the man who raped my 13-year-old daughter with disabilities proudly roaming around the neighborhood, saying, ‘What’s so wrong with raping a retard? She’s a reject any way!’” lamented a frustrated Mujtoba Ali*, a construction worker in Bogura.
Even though rape laws were amended last year to allow for the death penalty, a total of 813 girl children were subjected to rape, of whom 110 were subjected to gang rape in the first eight months of this year, revealed a report.
On July 11, three under-five children drowned in two unions of Netrakona’s Kalmakanda upazila. The incident, however, was not highlighted in the media, as child drowning still remains one of the neglected and underreported issues in Bangladesh.
Getting tested and vaccinated for Covid-19 was no less than a trauma for Tanisha Yasmin Chaity, a young transwoman and a development worker based in Cox’s Bazar.
30-year-old Mugdha* a transgender woman of Rajshahi, still depends on traditional healers or dispensaries when she feels unwell, considering the disparities she faces at hospitals.
As a mother, I believe that children should never die before their parents.
Despite dedicated efforts of obstetric and gynaecology specialists to reduce maternal and infant mortality rates, address cancer and infertility, and achieve SDGs, their numbers are disproportionately inadequate to serve half the population of the country.
The Domestic Workers Protection and Welfare Policy 2015, which aims to safeguard the rights and well-being of over two million domestic workers -- mostly women and children -- have remained unimplemented for the past eight years due to the government’s lack of political will and negligence.
To address children’s death by drowning, the Ministry of Women and Children Affairs in February 2022 approved a childcare development and safety project with a budget of Tk 271.82 crore, with an implementation period of January 2022 to December 2024.
Archana Rani, 36, a homemaker from coastal upazila Assasuni in Satkhira, struggled for 23 years to collect drinking water from faraway sources that were often salty and contaminated with arsenic.
While many urban millennial men continue to view unpaid domestic work as something women do, a lot of men in the coastal areas of Khulna and Satkhira are taking up the job and sharing responsibilities with their wives.
The report, titled "Gender-Based Employment and Wage", said the percentage of female officials in public administration was 19.62 percent, while it was 22.64 percent in the field administration
Despite the government’s ambitious Digital Bangladesh agenda, a significant digital gender divide persists in the country, leaving women at a disadvantage in accessing and using ICT tools compared to men.
Young parents Ringku Mia’s and Shifa Akter’s world had turned upside down when their four-year-old daughter Farha was diagnosed with stage-4 cancer that originated from a tumour in her kidney.
In Abul’s slum, or “Abuler Bosti”, in the capital’s Bhashantek, one of the most frequented places is his grocery-cum-tea shop.
