Empower grassroots women

Despite achieving success, women in Bangladesh still face many hurdles to flourish in their careers and reaching goals, said discussants yesterday.

If women can be provided with equal opportunities and familial support, they will be able to contribute more towards the country's economic advancement, they viewed.

They were speaking at the  inaugural ceremony of a painting exhibition titled, “HerStory: Women Trailblazers” and a discussion, “Transforming Visions: Women, Work and Leadership”, organised by Energis Limited at the capital's MIDAS Centre to celebrate International Women's Day 2017.

Economic self-reliance is one of the key tools for protecting the rights of women, said Tarana Halim, state minister for posts and telecommunications. If a woman can attain that, she can achieve courage to fight for her rights.

She said the media reports on women repression, but they should also publish an equal number of reports on the success of women.

Rokia Afzal Rahman, former adviser to a caretaker government, said women in Bangladesh have the abilities and merits to secure a better career and contribute to the society.

“We want women, especially the youth, to go forward with their competency and skills,” she viewed.

Education is a key component to overcome discrimination and injustice, said rights activist Aroma Dutta.

Nishat Majumder, the first Bangladeshi woman to scale Mount Everest, emphasised engaging young girls with extracurricular and outdoor activities for improving their mental and physical strength.

Dr Fahmida Khatun, executive director of the Centre for Policy Dialogue, said women's contributions to agriculture, other informal sectors and households should be recognised.

Women must have the confidence to prove their skills and competencies to overcome all the hurdles for reaching their goals, said Rupali Chowdhury, managing director of Berger Paints Bangladesh Limited.

Suraiya Zannath, lead financial management specialist of The World Bank, said a social movement to remove the barriers to women empowerment in the country is a must.

Zareen Mahmud Hosein, director of Energis Limited, said women should be empowered at grassroots level because rural women are more vulnerable to repression.

Over a dozen of leading women professionals spoke at the event, attended by several hundreds of women.

In the exhibition, paintings of 19 artists were displayed. The paintings focused on visions and thoughts of women trailblazers including Begum Rokeya Sakhawat, Jahanara Imam, Nilima Ibrahim and Begum Sufia Kamal.