Dr. Aminul Islam Akanda Girls and women in Bangladesh were facing threats to their lives, health and well-being since long. Even fifty years back, women were forbidden to go out of families and to participate in non-household activities considering them weak. Rural women could not vote in election for local government till 1956, let alone [...]

Despite many international agreements affirming their human rights, women are still much more likely than men to be poor and illiterate. They usually have less access than men to medical care, property ownership, credit, training and employment. They are far less likely than men to be politically active and far more likely to be victims [...]

Women have been doing noteworthy work as journalists in our country as well as elsewhere during the last decade. But their number in both print and electronic media in our country is less than expected. We need to recognise the challenges and explore the opportunities for women to encourage them.

The role of women in leadership situations has been the subject to debate in the last two decades. At the international level, the United Nations conferences on women have, in particular, advocated the need to increase the number of women in decision-making positions. In the Asia and Pacific region the initiatives to encourage women’s political [...]

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has been placed sixth in a list of the 10 top women leaders of the world prepared by internationally reputed Time magazine. The list was published in the current week’s online edition of the magazine.

A new forum, Bangladesh Women in Technology (BWIT), started its journey yesterday with a mission to empower women with technology and help develop careers in IT. The platform is aimed at recognising and promoting women. It is exclusive for women entrepreneurs, corporate executives and computer science professionals, who are committed to technology. The forum was [...]

Al Gore and his wife broke up after 40 years of marriage. The guy who stars in The Bachelor reality show broke up with his fiancé last week after being together for a lifetime by the standards of vacuous celebrities, ie, days. BP boss Tony Hayward parted company with his dividend paycheck. So I was [...]

Although women constitute 68.1 percent of the labour force in the agriculture sector, they are still out of legal protection.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has directed government officials to work for the betterment of the people, keeping themselves ‘above’ their varying beliefs and views.

Women grassroots leaders have not been able to play their due roles in upazila parishad for over a year as polls to around 1,600 reserve seats for women have not been held.

When women tried to join the bench on Egypt’s top administrative court, the uproar from its judges was fierce. Women are too emotional, they insisted and who will take care of the family if the mother is busy with the arduous tasks of the courtroom?

Dhaka, Apr 11  A Dhaka court on Sunday sent to jail Afroza Abbas, wife of the BNP leader Mirza Abbas, in relation to two tax cases for which she had been convicted for 16 years. UPDATED

Three women from the district were honoured in Chuadanga for their contribution to society: Sufia Khatun Lata (for promoting self-employment), Sahida Khatun (for her role the field of literacy) and Rashida Hasnu Ara ( for women’s development). The women received crests and certificates. The honours coincided with celebrations of 100-years of International Women’s Day.

The Prime Minister’s Adviser for Economic Affairs Mashiur Rahman, middle, speaks at a roundtable on ‘Policy support to CSR in the context of Bangladesh business and economy’ at Dhaka Sheraton Hotel yesterday. From right, President of Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industries Annisul Huq, Editor of The Financial Express Moazzem Hossain, President of [...]

Bangladesh Bank (BB) has for the first time fixed a target for all banks and financial institutions of distributing Tk 23,995 crore in small and medium enterprise (SME) loans for 2010.