As we look to the future, this is what I hope we can do: recognise that without addressing the various forms of economic and social inequalities we cannot address violence. Recognise that structural problems – including climate change, poverty, weak institutions, bad governance, lack of sanitation and access to water, transportation, unsafe roads and streets, together with a culture of misogyny exacerbates structural violence.

1 and 9 have always been the most significant numbers in my life. Most of what has happened to me (save one) has always taken place on dates that add to either 1 or 9.

A state of numbing grief to the point of being lost is what Anwara Syed Haq seems to be in as I meet her at her residence.

What do you think about when you think about violence against women? Do you think about sexual harassment on the streets?

I have been racking my brain for a positive New Year message. But the US election outcome, the humanitarian disaster unfolding in Aleppo, the brutalities against the Rohingyas in Myanmar have plunged me into despair.

As the year 2016 comes to an end and we step into 2017, we stand on a major fork in the road with respect to tackling climate

Uber in Bangladesh kicks off. I nickname it Butterfly, for (officially) living a long life of three days before being shot down for providing a commercial service using private vehicles.

In the last few weeks, Dhaka has hosted a number of international workshops and meetings on issues to do with migration and also on urbanisation.

Shocking details about election fraud in America were reported recently. As one of the oldest democracies, America prides itself in having perfected its election process, which is free and fair.

In big business and commercial parlance, one comes across the now familiar concept of 'Corporate Social Responsibility' (CSR) that, in real terms consists of promotional activities geared to improving the acceptability and image of an organisation.

On December 18, as appointed by the United Nations General Assembly, the international community recognises and celebrates the rights of migrants around the world.

Bangladesh has just hosted a big international conference on migration as the co-chair, with Germany, of the Global Forum on Migration and Development.

Antonio Guterres became the next Secretary-General of the United Nations on Monday when relations between the US and Russia are probably at their grumpiest since the end of the Cold War, nationalist movements are on the rise around the world and amid what he called a loss of confidence in institutions, including the one he will take over in January.

South Korean President Park Geun-hye has been impeached on December 9, 2016, following a bizarre scandal.

Elections are a fascinating spectacle, to say the least, and this is not in reference to any tax dodging on a massive scale, deleted emails of humongous volume, amazing tales of surreptitious groping (the 'victims' fading into silence after being overrun by the electoral

The ninth Global Forum on Migration and Development Summit is being held in Bangladesh at a time when the world is facing the worst migration and refugee crisis in the history of human civilisation.

Following Cuban revolutionary leader Fidel Castro's death on November 25, numerous columns and articles have been written about his achievements and failures.

Bangladesh has all the ingredients in place to pull off this transition from externally focused to genuinely nationally driven goals to both tackle climate change as well as deliver sustainable development by 2030.

In view of the grisly and gory attacks, allegedly state-sponsored, on the Rohingya Muslim minority of neighbouring Myanmar, it would not be out of place to take a serious look at the menacing face of the other kind of fundamentalism about which the international community has not been desirably vocal.

Today is being observed as Democracy Day in the country, although given the moribund state democracy is in at present, one wonders whether the appellation for the day is justified at this point in time.