Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Wednesday said that
following her government’s steps to offset the impacts of climate change, the
vulnerability of the poor and marginalized community has declined.
“Various measures have been taken by the government to
offset the impacts of climate change, which also pulled down the vulnerability
of the poor and the marginalized community,” she said when Executive Director
of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and UN Under-Secretary General Dr
Natalia Kanem called on her. Prime Minister’s Speechwriter Md Nazrul Islam
briefed the reporters after the meeting held at InterContinental hotel. In case
of natural disasters, the premier said, the rate of casualties has sharply
reduced in Bangladesh. During the meeting, different issues, including child
and mother mortality rates, reproductive health, child marriage and girls
education came up for discussion. The UNFPA Executive Director said Bangladesh
has made an excellent performance in reducing the child and maternal mortality
rates. She said the reproductive health of women is being affected due to
adverse impacts of climate change. Turning to women education, Sheikh Hasina
said the girl students surpassed boys both in number and academic performance
in the school examinations in Bangladesh.
“Girl students have surpassed the boys both in number and
pass percentage in the recent school examinations (SSC examinations). And it
has been possible for our girl-friendly policy,” she said, adding that many
parents even were not willing to send their girls to schools in the past. Coming
in power in 1996, Sheikh Hasina said, her government framed policy to promote
girls education in line with her experiences gathered after she returned home
in 1981. She focused on different steps including introduction of stipend
programme for students and school feeding scheme. Besides, now a larger number
of girls are coming to schools as employment scopes for girls have widened, she
noted. Foreign Minister Dr Hasan Mahmud, State Minister for Health Rokeya
Sultana, Foreign Secretary Masud Bin Momen, PMO Secretary Mohammad Salahuddin
and Medical Education and Family Welfare Division Secretary Azizur Rahman were
present.
