2024-03-09 00:40:23
Speaker of the National Parliament. Shireen Sharmin Chowdhury said gender equality is important for achieving the larger goals of equitable, inclusive and sustainable development. Gender equality is essential to a strong democracy.
She said these things at the Women Speakers Summit organized by the National Assembly in the French capital Paris on Thursday (March 7).
Shirin Sharmin Chowdhury said that the constitution of Bangladesh has ensured equal rights of men and women in all areas of state and public life. There are 50 reserved seats in the National Parliament for women and women can also become MPs through direct election.
He said, instead of 33 percent of women in political parties, there are currently 22 to 24 percent. In order to increase the participation of women through direct elections, political parties should nominate more women. Appropriate laws and policies must be adopted in this regard.
The speaker said that gender sensitive budgeting is very important in empowering women. Financial and logistic support as well as market access should be ensured for women entrepreneurs. Technology education and training should be ensured to acclimate women to the ICT sector.
He said that due to the efficient leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, significant progress has been made in the expansion of women’s education in the country. There is parity in student-student ratio at primary and secondary levels. Nowadays women are also encouraged to pursue higher education. Various policies are being adopted to advance women’s education as well as providing free books and scholarships, which are helping to prevent child marriage.
25 women speakers from around the world participated in the summit including France, Mexico, Madagascar, Indonesia, Cambodia, South Africa, Kiribati, Spain, Belgium, Ukraine, Bahamas, Malawi, Mozambique, Rwanda, Tanzania, Germany.
Earlier in the morning, 25 female speakers had a meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron at Elysee Palace. Later, French National Assembly President Yael Braun inaugurated the Pivot Summit.
The first round table meeting on ‘Education in Equality, Health and Fight Against Violence Towards Women’ and the second round table meeting on ‘Gender Equality, Parity and Empowerment in Politics, Female Role Models’ were held at the summit.