Girls speak out loud for empowerment
Girls speak out loud for empowerment
Brac, Ministry of Women and Children Affairs, DFID provide platform
“Dear Father and Mother,” wrote Sayeda Uchaila Rahbar, student of class nine from Malatinagar, Bogra , “As citizens of a country, run by women leaders, why are you trying to nip my dreams and wishes at its bud instead of letting it flourish?”
“I don't want to be your burden rather I want to be an invaluable asset to you,” Rahbar wrote in her letter urging her parents not to marry her off at the age of 15.
Rahbar's letter won the first prize among 11,000 entries sent to Brac in response to a call for submission of writings from young girls to make their parents aware of the ills of child marriage.
The letter, along with two other award winning entries displayed inside the Osmani Memorial Hall yesterday, welcomed participants to the daylong Bangladesh Girl Summit 2014 organised by the Ministry of Women and Children's Affairs and Brac with help from UK-based development organisation the Department for International Development (DFID).
Themed “Ending child marriage and Empowering Girls”, the summit was arranged in line with the Girl Summit held in the UK last July.
Young girls and boys as well as different actors who work on the issue of children and women's rights participated in the summit and shared ideas about how they can prevent early marriages and ensure women's empowerment.
Five teenagers from different parts of the country talked about how they prevented early marriage when they or someone they knew were forced to agree to such practice.
Mitu Roy, a freshman of bachelor of business administration at Bogra Government Azizul Huque College, who attended the UK summit, shared her journey from Bogra to the UK with the audience.
“My elder sister was married off at class VIII, but I never liked the idea. When my parents started pressing me to get married at class-VIII, I talked with my mother and made her understand the importance of my education,” she said.
Later with the help of her family Mitu joined the Kishori (adolescent) Club, a Brac initiative assisted by the government, and participated in football and cricket. Now she works as a goal coach for girls.
“People used to taunt me when I played football, but after my return from the UK, these same people show me respect. I consider it to be the biggest achievement of my life,” she said.
Meher Afroze Chumki, MP, state minister for the ministry, urged girls not to go astray following false promises of love. “You need to be aware of your own good. If you do not understand what is good for you no one can give you your rights,” she said.
Pointing at the high rate of child marriage in Bangladesh, Lynne Featherstone, MP, UK parliamentary under secretary of state for international development, said they were developing a £25-million programme to prevent child and forced marriages in 12 developing countries, including Bangladesh.
Sir Fazle Hasan Abed, KCMG, founder and chairperson, Brac, called upon parents to look at girls as assets not as a burden.
He stated that Brac has pledged $280 million in funds to reach out to 2.7 million girls to provide them with primary education, training and scholarships over the next five years.