Speaker of the National Assembly of Bangladesh, Hafiz Uddin Ahmed Bir Bikram MP, said, transforming the population into human resources is one of our challenges. We can move forward by utilizing the opportunity of demographic dividend. In this regard, women and men have an equal role. He said, equal participation of women and men must be ensured in the country’s development process, a press release said.
He said these things while speaking as the chief guest at a workshop titled “Role of Parliament in Implementing Population Bonus, Sustainable Development Goals and ICPD Commitments” organized by the Bangladesh National Assembly Secretariat under the SPCPD Project at the National Assembly’s swearing-in chamber today.
The event was chaired by the Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly of Bangladesh, Barrister Kaiser Kamal MP, and the welcome address was delivered by the Secretary of the National Assembly Secretariat of Bangladesh, Barrister Md. Golam Sarwar Bhuiyan, and the Chief Whip of the National Assembly, Nurul Islam Moni, MP, and the Bangladesh Representative of UNFPA, Ms. Catherine Brin Camkong, delivered speeches as special guests.
The Speaker of the National Assembly of Bangladesh, Hafiz Uddin Ahmed Bir Bikram MP, said that the democratic rights of the people have been established through the last national elections held after the end of the long 15-year authoritarian rule. The country has taken necessary steps under the leadership of the current government, Prime Minister Tarique Rahman, which is highly commendable. He said that the National Assembly is working as a reflection of the hopes and aspirations of the people.
The Speaker said that we have many challenges in preventing child marriage, eliminating gender-based violence, educating adolescents and preventing violence against women. At the same time, climate change is causing sea level rise and salinity in coastal areas to increase. He said that to solve these problems, members of parliament should raise public awareness among the people of their own areas and use development initiatives.
Deputy Speaker of the National Parliament Barrister Kaiser Kamal, MP said that there is no opportunity to look at the population of Bangladesh in numerical terms. We need to educate our population with real education and ensure their employment and transform them into human resources. He said that we need to take integrated plans and effective steps to implement the SDGs. For this, parliamentary activities should not only include lawmaking, but also policies and plans to solve the problems of the people.
Chief Whip of the National Parliament of Bangladesh Nurul Islam Moni, MP said that economic prosperity of a country does not only depend on its natural resources; the country’s greatest resource is its skilled and educated population. Bangladesh needs to learn from the experiences of different countries in the world and transform its huge working population into skilled human resources. A skilled, educated and productive population is the main force for the country’s sustainable economic development.
Catherine Brin Kampkong, Bangladesh Representative of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), said that the Bangladesh government is cooperating with development partners by formulating people-friendly policies to prevent climate change, protect the reproductive health of adolescents and protect the social security of the population.
The Speaker emphasized the importance of preventing violence against women.
Cabinet members, whips, members of parliament, representatives of UNFPA and SPCPD projects and senior officials of the National Parliament Secretariat were present at the event.
