Equal opportunity for all demanded

Senior Staff Reporter, Rangpur :

 Nisargo, a student of eleven grade on Thursday symbolically took over the position of the Director Family Planning of Rangpur Division for a day. This symbolic take over is part of the Girls Takeover campaign, a signature campaign of international development organisation Plan International Bangladesh on the occasion of the International Day of Girls . This campaign was held every year globally including in Bangladesh with a demand for urgent social and political change to tear down the barriers of discrimination that hold girls back.
At the beginning of the day Director Family Planning of Rangpur Division welcomed Nisargo with flowers and introduced the girl with the team members as a “Symbolic Director” of Family Planning Department of Rangpur Division.
After introduction session, Director briefed Nisargo about major activities of the Family Planning Department of Rangpur Division and orientated day to day activities as well.
Later, Nisargo took part in the daily activities with the Director. She observed the routine activities and leadership style and roles carried out by the director. She experienced how the Director accomplishes the tasks, how decisions are made, how he deals with different issues, how to talk with people. After performing different departmental activities, a reflection sharing session held where Nisargo and Director shared their reflections. “Performing the symbolic role of Director opened a new window in my life. I have learned about major activities of Family Planning Department of Rangpur Division, how these are functioning to fulfil the public demand,” said Nisargo. Championing girls’ rights is not new to Nisargo. In her community, she takes actions to ensure girls’ rights. She also advocates against child marriage and has stopped three child marriages in her community. She distributed masks among the community people during the pandemic of COVID-19 and disseminated messages about preventing the infection of the virus, such as wearing facemask, maintaining social distance, washing hands for 20 seconds frequently.
Among others Dr. Mohtarima Begum, Medical Officer (Clinic), A.T.M. Nazmul Huda, Assistant Director, Family Planning of Family Planning Department of Rangpur Division. Dr. Hrishikesh Sarker, Programme Manager of Plan International Bangladesh, Faiz Kawser, Project Manager of JANO project, officials of Family Planning department, NGO representatives, Journalists, participated the event.