Women, girls' right to food being violated

Women and girl children's right to food is being violated, mostly due to prejudice towards them, resulting in their malnutrition in the long run, said speakers at a discussion yesterday.

In many cases, the food male members of a family receive are better in quality than those of female ones, said the speakers.

As a result, women and girl children are being deprived of proper food, said the speakers at the seminar in Cirdap auditorium of the capital.

Many people marry off their underage daughters due to security concerns, said Dr Akhtar Ahmed, country director of International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). such Child marriage results in the birth of stunted children, he added.

"Right to Food Bangladesh" (RFB) organised the seminar on “Food situation of women and girl children and their right to food.”

A study of Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics on nutrition of mothers and children in 2013, found 48.9 percent mothers were married before they were 18 years of age and 59 percent of them became pregnant before they were 20, said Kaniz Fatima, coordinator of the RFB, in her keynote presentation.

Those mothers remain under serious health risk and continue to suffer from malnutrition, the study said.

She also said according to a study of the World Food Programme (WFP), 50 percent female children are suffering from malnutrition and 35 percent of them are underweight.

Kaniz also said around 2.50 crore people of the country are facing malnutrition and the number of people having malnutrition related problems has increased to 7 lakhs in the last 10 years.

Speaking at the programme, Abdul Karim, joint secretary of women and children's affairs ministry, said the right to food has to be ensured with utmost importance.

Ensuring food stability, availability, sufficiency as well as access to food are necessary to ensure the right to food, he added.    

Delivering his speech as the chief guest, Food Minister Advocate Qamrul Islam said attitude towards women and girl children has been changing. The government wants to ensure safe food at every stage from production to table, but it needs some time to achieve the goal, added the minister.

Khondoker Ibrahim Khalid, vice-chairman of RFB, said though Bangladesh has primarily achieved the status of a developing country, there is a huge income gap.

He said rich people are becoming richer, but the trend of the middle class turning into higher middle class and lower middle class turning into middle class, is nominal.

Kazi Rawshan Akhtar, director general of the department of women affairs, said it is imperative to promote social values regarding women and girls' right to food and the change should first come from within a family, she added. 

Mohshin Ali, general secretary of RFB, moderated the programme while Farah Kabir, country director of ActionAid Bangladesh; Sakeb Nabi, country director of Christian Aid; and Prof Mahbuba Nasrin of Dhaka University, spoke, among others.