UK will continue supporting women's empowerment

The United Kingdom has said it will continue to help Bangladesh's stride in eradicating child marriage and stopping violence against women giving both girls and women "safe and secure" lives and ensuring their economic independence.

"Despite significant progress, still more needs to be done, particularly around the challenge of eradicating child marriage. It remains very high here compared to other countries in the region," outgoing DFID Country Representative Sarah Cooke told UNB and another media outlet in an interview.

She said they are now designing programmes for the next five years, starting from the financial year 2016-2017 (April 1), considering the needs of Bangladesh.

Sarah laid emphasis on the effective implementation of "very good" laws and policies already in place to achieve the goals of ending violence against women and child marriage.

"We want to support Bangladesh becoming a prosperous and stable country and we feel we can help Bangladesh lifting more people out of poverty," said the DFID Country Representative.

The Department for International Development (DFID) leads the UK's works in Bangladesh to end extreme poverty by creating jobs, unlocking the potentials of girls and women and helping to save lives when humanitarian emergencies hit.

Sarah, who will soon take over charge as the British High Commissioner to Tanzania, said they would continue to help Bangladesh deliver its commitment to reduce child marriage.

"And in the long-term, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina committed to eradicating child marriage by 2041. I would love to return to Bangladesh at the time to see the changes," she said.

Terming Bangladesh a 'development success story' the DFID chief said Bangladesh has really given girls and women more choices in their lives, allowing them to complete education and getting employment.

Talking about the International Women's Day, Sarah said it is always a big day on calendar here in Bangladesh.

Sarah, who has been country representative for DFID Bangladesh since October 2012, highly appreciated the confidence she has seen among girls and women in Bangladesh.

"I had wonderful experience of meeting so many people. I feel incredibly lucky," she said.

Responding to a question on sustainable development goals (SDGs), she said it needs to make sure that marginalised and vulnerable groups get the support they are entitled to.

"We need to make sure that we don't leave anybody behind. The leadership by the government is really important," she added.

On climate change issue, she said they have a strong commitment to managing the impacts of climate change and help vulnerable countries.

She said the British government has a very close partnership with Bangladesh, a key part of that is their development programmes.

The UK government's programmes have helped to lift 1.5 million people out of extreme poverty by providing training or assets to help people set up businesses by the end of 2015. The programmes also helped 1.4 million farmers and small businesses resulting in a net increase in income of £100 million.