Nilima Jahan

Nilima Jahan is a Staff Reporter at The Daily Star, who is passionate about working on human rights, particularly women and child rights issues. When she is not writing, she spends most of her time thinking about her baby (who is currently inside her womb), ordering and eating her favourite spicy dishes, travelling, and scrolling on her phone. She can be contacted at [email protected].

No going back to school for slum children

Despite being of school-going age, 12-year-old Sayem and his siblings -- Siam, 8, and Sadia, 6 -- are out of school at present.

Death by drowning: A leading cause of child death

In Bangladesh, media reports indicate a threefold increase in child deaths due to drowning, which is recognised as a leading cause of mortality among children under five in rural areas.

Don’t judge our grief

As a mother, I believe that children should never die before their parents.

Gynaecologists’ promotions: 993 overlooked for 15yrs

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.

Policy regarding domestic workers: Protection remains only on paper

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.

Preventing Death by Drowning: Ministry project sees little to no progress

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.

Water harvesting in coastal upazilas: From scarcity to security

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.

Coastal men break traditional gender roles

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.

February 15, 2023
February 15, 2023

Children With Cancer: A parent’s worst nightmare

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.

February 13, 2023
February 13, 2023

Students In Slums: Putting up a brave fight for a future

In Abul’s slum, or “Abuler Bosti”, in the capital’s Bhashantek, one of the most frequented places is his grocery-cum-tea shop.

February 11, 2023
February 11, 2023

Hepatitis B During Pregnancy: Newborns at risk of liver cirrhosis, cancer

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.

February 8, 2023
February 8, 2023

Implementation will fall short: study

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.

January 29, 2023
January 29, 2023

Maternal Healthcare: Slum women left to fend for themselves

Eighteen-year-old Julekha Begum, of Tejgaon slum, was married off at 15 and is currently in the ninth month of pregnancy.

January 24, 2023
January 24, 2023

Ensuring child rights: Social protection schemes are crucial

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.

January 18, 2023
January 18, 2023

Lives deprived of hope

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.

December 27, 2022
December 27, 2022

A good initiative, but still a long way to go

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.

December 10, 2022
December 10, 2022

Domestic Violence Victims: Back in with abusers as the state fails them

What forces abused women to return to live with their tormentors even after repeated incidents of domestic violence?

December 9, 2022
December 9, 2022

1098 Helpline: A godsend for children in distress

Moriom Begum has been a victim of domestic violence ever since she got married in 2016 for not being able to pay dowry money.