With the whole world entangled in the coronavirus pandemic, we have no other option but to shut down all work and fight to contain the deadly disease.
Back in 2017, we had an opportunity to build a small and experimental toilet in Jhalokati, with the simple intention of helping adolescent girls in a rural school who had no real toilet to avail.
WhileE grow-ing up in a Tripura community of Khagrachhari in the Chittagong Hill Tracts, an ethnically diverse and geographically distinct region of Bangladesh, I became familiar with a myth that explained why the Tripuras did not have a script or writing system of their own.
A lone structure is taking shape on a featureless, grey horizon. Two figures work under the beating sun, on an otherwise deserted landscape. One digs, the other carries loads of earth on her head.
The generation of the 90s where I belong to has grown up with a very popular group of cartoon characters: Meena, Raju, and Mithu.
Society imposes different roles and responsibilities on men and women based on the gender of an individual which at times impede the development of individuals.
I have been asked by several close friends recently, why we need social protection measures to address poverty in Bangladesh—a country which has the world’s largest microcredit programme. One might ask: is it because the microcredit programme is not fulfilling its promise of alleviating poverty and social protection is therefore going to replace it?
The death of Abrar Fahad epitomises the need for tolerance towards dissenting voices. He is a martyr to the cause of free speech. Employing his brutal death to silence political dissent and to eliminate political rights on campus is wrong. He did not deserve such betrayal.
We live in a world where things are constantly happening. Every day seems like an assault on our mental stability because of the nature of the events that take place, more so for a writer who has to go through the unpleasantness of trying to connect the dots and produce an analysis of them.
According to “World Population Prospects: the 2017 Revision,” the number of older persons (those aged 60 years or over) is expected to more than double by 2050 and more than triple by 2100, rising from 962 million globally in 2017 to 2.1 billion in 2050. Globally, the population aged 60 or over is growing faster than all younger age groups.
Apparently “inspired” by last year's safe road movement, the DMP has come up with yet another action plan to deal with Dhaka's anarchic—to put it mildly— traffic situation.
It's amazing how unhinged society can become if you don't pay attention to the smaller details and address them appropriately. Take for example violence in society. The majority of inhabitants of society detest and abhor violence.
At the end of the 20th century, the issue of women's empowerment and development was finally thrust into the limelight. Scholars identified lack of “economic power” as the primary cause of women's suffering and including women in the outside world by educating them and opening up the job market for them was thought to be a universal panacea. The accepted doctrine was that when women have economic power like men do, they can be independent and raise their voice in every sphere of society.
Employment in fisheries and aquaculture around the globe has grown faster than the world's population. The sector provides jobs to tens of millions and supports the livelihoods of hundreds of millions.
Bangladesh has performed significantly well in attaining the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) compared to many other countries in the world. But over the last couple of decades, the country has undergone rapid and massive urbanisation—where currently 37 percent of the total population live in urban areas of which one third (around 2.4 crore) of people live in the squalor of slums, and this figure is expected to increase to around 4.5 crore by 2030.
Right from the moment you step out of the Hazrat Shahjalal International airport in Dhaka, you notice that knowing Bangla is essential to your survival.
Social values form the basic foundation of a nation. The values define what is acceptable in a society and determine the behaviour of the people. Social values are however not static and can change over time based on what beliefs and attitudes people embrace as they move on.
The lack of women's empowerment is a critical form of inequality. And while there are many barriers to empowerment, violence against women and girls (VAW) is both a cause and a consequence of gender inequality.
