Voicing her government's firm commitment to continue to work for the social, economic and political emancipation of women, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has urged all vow afresh to achieve gender parity in all aspects and make the world a better place for girls and women.

"I see a strong political resolve today to move forward with gender equality and women's empowerment. Let's, once again, take a vow to achieve gender parity in all aspects and make the world a better place for our women and girls," she said.

The Prime Minister was delivering her statement on Global Leaders Meeting on Gender Equality and Women's Empowerment: A commitment to Action at the UN Headquarters on Sunday.

The global leaders meeting titled 'Gender Equality and Women's Empowerment: A Commitment to Action' was jointly organised by UN Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN-Women) and China.

Chinese President Xi Jinping presided over the session, while UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and 17 heads of state and government, including the presidents of Mexico and Kenya and the Prime Minister of Denmark, took part in the discussion.

Sheikh Hasina also said her government has plans to eliminate child marriage by 2041. We shall continue to give greater attention to maternal health and nutrition. "We'll work for significant increase in the rate of skilled birth attendance."

Extending her thanks to the Government of China and UN-Women for convening this meeting, Hasina said Bangladesh attaches the highest importance to women's participation in all walks of life.

"Our efforts are guided by the vision of our Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman who desired to transform the country into a prosperous 'Sonar Bangla' where women would participate alongside men in nation-building activities," she said.

The Prime Minister said her government's pro-women development strategy is showing excellent results. Some of the successful programmes include free education for girls up to 12th grade, stipends for girls, free pre- and post-natal healthcare, self-employment programmes for women, collateral free credit facilities, and vocational and ICT training.

Mentioning that the new development agenda offers added impetus to bring positive change in the lives of women and girls, she said, "We should seize this opportunity."

In this connection, Hasina committed that her government would continue to work for the social, economic and political emancipation of our women. "We'll create more opportunities and access for women to participate in politics, business, labour market and higher education."

She went on saying, "We shall create a safer environment for our women and girls to thrive as agents of change. We shall work for ending all forms of discrimination and violence against women."

The Prime Minister said her government is providing 32 types of medicine free of cost from the community clinics across the country, mainly dedicated to providing healthcare services to women.