The future for girls

Women are at the centre of the development process. Empowerment of women results in faster economic growth, less corruption in governance, lower childhood malnutrition and lower child mortality, increased agricultural production, more children in school including girls, and reduced health risks. When women are empowered the overall health and well-being of a society is greatly improved. For this, a society-wide transformation is urgently needed. It is not as simple as "let's just send little girls to school." We need to get beyond the obvious answers. In what environment will they be safe, will they not be harmed, will they truly be educated, will they be properly fed and will they be nurtured? Our efforts at finding the answers to these questions will help us build a self-reliant future for our country.

Let us pause for a moment to see the condition of girls world-wide. Half of reported sexual assaults are perpetrated against girls aged 15 years and younger. There are 17 countries with high rates of female infanticide. An estimated one million female fetuses are aborted each year in China and an estimated five million female fetuses are aborted each year in India. By age 18, girls have completed an average of 4.4 fewer years of school than boys. Globally, girls are three times more likely to suffer from malnutrition than boys. Each year two million girls between ages 5 and 15 are forced into the commercial sex market. 58 per cent of the over ten million young people infected with HIV/AIDS are girls. Of the school aged children who do not go to school, 60 per cent are girls -- an estimated seventy million more girls than boys. Fifteen million girls aged 15 to 19 years give birth each year. Each year female genital mutilation is performed on an estimated two million little girls, most often between the ages of 4 and 8 years.

To ensure a better future for our women ten critical actions must be undertaken. These are: helping to create women's organisations, income generation, better nutrition, basic and reproductive health, action against violence and trafficking, education, information, freedom of movement, shared responsibility for household work, and participation in local government.

Leaders of different child rights organisations have called for social movement and stringent enforcement of laws to protect girl children from all forms of discriminations including murder, rape, trafficking, acid throwing, and dowry. Laws are there to protect the girls but most of them are not implemented properly. The policymakers of the government should lay emphasis on the rights of girl children, proper implementation of laws and take necessary steps to eliminate all forms of discrimination against them.

Women must be organised into self-help groups and community organizations. Women's organisations are key to enabling women to come out of their homes, identify their common problems, and take collective action for solutions. They must be provided with resources and skills training that enable them to participate in small enterprises. We know, when women increase their own income, they invest in the well-being of their families. Families and communities must ensure women's equal access to food throughout their lives. Women must have the information they need to make appropriate decisions about nutrition. They must have access to basic health care at all stages of life -- from infancy to adolescence to adulthood. In addition, they must have access to reproductive health including contraception, prenatal care and information on child spacing and the hazards of early marriage.

Bangladesh must adopt "zero tolerance" of trafficking and violence against women. Men must change their behaviour. Families must treat violence in the household as a criminal act. Government must prosecute each and every case of violence against women to the fullest extent of the law. Local communities must have the resources and accountability to ensure basic literacy and numeracy for girls and women. When women and girls are educated, this translates into lower population growth, reduced child mortality, lower school drop-out rates and improved family nutrition.

They must have access to clear and accurate information on education, health, sanitation, nutrition, legal rights, and religion. Women leaders must ensure that this information is communicated orally to women who are illiterate. They must enjoy freedom of movement. Their participation in economic and social activities outside the home never contradicts with the religious teachings. To address the basic issues for a healthy community, women's participation in the local government must be ensured. Communities must commit themselves to overcoming the obstacles to women's full participation in local government.

Women in Bangladesh will need to find the courage to rise above the subservient, subordinated roles that are dictated to them by the society.

Men will need to become sensitive to the ways in which they and the society discriminate against and disable women and have the courage to change these ways. Together, we must forge a new partnership based on equality for the future of our families, our communities, and our nation.

Rafiqul Islam Sarkar is a former chief news editor, BTV, and current programme manager, The Hunger Project-Bangladesh.