British Council Celebrates #PressforProgress

On March 8, 2018, the British Council arranged daylong events to celebrate International Women's Day 2018, at their premises.

The occasion was packed with activities like the "Quizard", an online quiz competition, where the participants had to answer questions related to prominent women's right activists like Begum Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain and Emmeline Pankhurst. A film screening session on women's issues was arranged too, where award-winning short films directed by children were showcased by the Children's Film Society Bangladesh.

After the lunch break, a workshop for adolescent girls and boys was arranged, where Samir Asran Rahman, the creator of Ms Shabash (a comic that was launched on International Women's Day in 2015 by Dhaka's Mighty Punch Studios) navigated the young minds to generate story ideas that encourage a gender-equal society.

The Living Library session was conducted in the garden area in the afternoon, where women from all fields of life were invited to hold conversations; aiming to challenge stereotypes and prejudices through dialogue, along with empowering other females.

Finally, a panel discussion was arranged in the British Council Auditorium. Prominent women and human rights activists like Mahmuda Rahman Khan, USAID, Bangladesh; and Taslima Akhter, activist and photographer; took part in the session. While the panel shares their experiences as professionals and discuss on the status of women's education and employment, Taslima Yasmin, Assistant Professor of the Dhaka University Law Department, adds, "If the youth could unite and win a language and war in the past, then, the youth today can unite and win over the existing inequality in the society."

Keeping this year's International Women's Day campaign theme "#PressforProgress" in mind, the initiative by the British Council successfully created awareness on women's rights, as well as, honoured women's achievements. We now come a step closer towards creating a better Bangladesh.