Int'l Women's Day today
International Women's Day will be observed today in the country and elsewhere in the world with a call for all to ensure women's rights.
To mark the day, different socio-cultural organisations will organise programmes focusing on women's rights and progress made by them in the economic, social, political and other arenas.
This year's theme for the day is “Equality for women is progress for all.”
In his message on the occasion, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon urged men and boys to play their part in ensuring that women reach their full potential.
“A baby girl born today will still face inequality and discrimination, no matter where her mother lives. We have a common obligation to ensure her right to live free from the violence that affects one in three women globally; to earn equal pay for equal work; to be free of the discrimination that prevents her from participating in the economy, to have equal say in the decisions that affect her life, and to decide if and when she will have children and how many she will have,” said the statement.
President Abdul Hamid and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in their messages urged everyone to end inequality.
The day's events begin at midnight with different right groups congregating at the Central Shaheed Minar to light candles in a symbolic move to dispel the “darkness” that women live in.
The Central Shaheed Minar premises will be occupied by women throughout the day as support groups under different banners will hold rallies and processions there.
A unique procession will be held in Gulshan-1, with men walking down in high heels as a representation of the idiom “walk in her shoes”.
The procession “March in Her Heels” will be organised jointly by One Billion Rising Bangladesh and Qubee, said a press release.
The capital's Shahbagh intersection will also see a series of programmes, including human chains and sit-ins, by rights groups.
Among the organisations that will host programmes there is National Forum of Organisations Working with the Disabled. The forum is a platform of women facing physical and intellectual challenges.
Besides, Biplobi Nari Shanghati will bring out a procession at Shahbagh bearing torches to show their enlightenment.
There will be rallies and human-chains on Topkhana Road in front of the Jatiya Press Club by different support groups for women, mostly of female labourers and garment workers.
Social and cultural groups will also put up visual and theatrical performances. Naripokkho will stage a monologue protesting marital rape of women. Rights bodies will make suggestions for eradicating gender inequality.
United National Awami Party proposed removal of discrepancies in wages between men and women and trying the culprits under speedy trial tribunals for violence against women.
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