Staff Reporter :
Dhaka has urged the international community to enhance global cooperation and increase investment in advancing gender equality, reaffirming its commitment to the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action.
Women and Children Affairs Adviser Sharmeen S. Murshid made the call while delivering Bangladesh’s national statement at the sixty-ninth session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW69) in New York on Thursday.
She emphasized the need for stronger partnerships, renewed commitments, and greater investments to ensure that no woman or girl is left behind.Adviser Murshid highlighted the role of women in Bangladesh’s historical struggles for self-emancipation, democracy, and social justice.
She noted that women made up 65per cent of the young revolutionaries in the July uprising of 2024, which led to the fall of the fascist government of Sheikh Hasina. The subsequent formation of the interim government, she said, has marked a turning point in Bangladesh’s gender landscape.
The adviser underscored that the interim government is committed to transformative reforms aimed at eliminating discrimination and gender disparity.
She announced the establishment of a “Women Affairs Reform Commission” to address key barriers to gender equality and combat violence against women. Additionally, the government has launched Quick Response Teams to provide immediate support to victims of violence within 24 hours.
Adviser Murshid also stressed the importance of removing reservations from certain articles of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), particularly articles 13(a), 16.1(f), and 16.1(c).
As part of the CSW69 session, she participated in a Ministerial Roundtable on national mechanisms for gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls.
During the discussion, she shared Bangladesh’s best practices and experiences in implementing the Beijing Platform for Action under the leadership of Chief Adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus.
On the sidelines of the conference, Adviser Murshid held bilateral meetings with her counterparts from China, Sweden, Mexico, and Finland.
The discussions focused on women’s development, gender equality, combating violence against women and children, and fostering a care economy as a social business in Bangladesh.She is also scheduled to deliver a keynote speech at a high-level side event titled “Investing in Care – A Pathway to Economic Growth and Gender Equality,” co-organized by Bangladesh, Nepal, and Finland.
Ministers from Nepal, high-level representatives from Bangladesh, Nepal, and Finland, as well as officials from UN Women, the International Labour Organization (ILO), the Asian Development Bank (ADB), and the World Bank, along with civil society organizations, are expected to participate in the event.Additionally, she will hold bilateral meetings with officials from Türkiye and Tunisia.Adviser Murshid is currently on an official visit to New York and Washington, D.C., where she is engaging with the World Bank on various gender-related matters.
These include women’s empowerment, investing in social care, fostering economic inclusion, strengthening social protection, and implementing multisectoral approaches to combating gender-based violence.
