Bangladesh takes effective measures for vulnerable women

Environment, Forest and Climate Change Minister Md. Shahab Uddin said with its scarce resources, Bangladesh has taken a number of measures for uplifting the conditions of vulnerable women.

He said the Government is trying to its best to ensure gender equity. Women have been given equal opportunity in all sphere of life in the Constitution of Bangladesh. Bangladesh has formulated a range of policies, laws and guidelines to ensure gender equity.

"The government has introduced gender budget in national budgeting system. With the dynamic leadership of our Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, now a number of top posts are possessed by women," he said while speaking at the High-Level event of the Gender Caucus in the conference of the parties (COP-15) to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) held last night in Abidjan, Côte dIvoire hosted by the First Lady of Cote dIvoire Dominique Ouattara.

The Minister said climate change related risks and vulnerabilities adversely affect women and tend to loss their lives and livelihood. In Bangladesh, climate change obstructs countrys sustainable food security and makes its population especially women vulnerable to health as well as environmental shocks. Yet, women play a significant role in reducing and reversing land degradation. Women contributes to restore, protect and improve land in a range of ways.

The Minister said the 8th five-year plan of Bangladesh undertakes a number of activities which will help to mitigate the severe problem of land degradation in Bangladesh and will support the global agenda of achieving sustainable development goals. He said, we are encouraging and welcoming international cooperation and support through UNCCD secretariat as well as Global Mechanism for improving the conditions of affected people especially for women.

It is mentionable that in the Gender Caucus, the First Lady of Côte dIvoire Dominique Ouattara and the United Nations Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed launched a new study on the differentiated impacts of desertification, land degradation and drought on men and women. The study shines the spotlight on the disproportionate impacts women and girls are facing when land is degraded and how, if given the agency, they can be at the forefront of global land restoration efforts.