Bangladesh
World Children’s Day: Children for urgent action on issues that matter to them
Children and young people in Bangladesh, Colombia, Fiji, Gambia, Indonesia, and elsewhere on Sunday took over newsrooms, newspapers, and broadcast studios to report on issues that matter to them.
Child journalist Rupkatha Rahman took over as the editor of the Prothom Alo for one day on the occasion of World Children's Day.
Children and young people are raising their voices and demanding urgent action on the issues that matter to them in a series of global and local events to mark World Children’s Day, UNICEF’s global day of action for children, by children.
From headlining at the world expo, to meeting with presidents, leading public debates, and reporting from newsrooms, young people are engaging world leaders, businesses, and high-profile stars on issues including climate, equality and kindness.
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“Amid a global pandemic, rising poverty, and social unrest, World Children’s Day is a time to celebrate young people’s unwavering hope and determination to build back better,” said UNICEF Deputy Executive Director of Partnerships Charlotte Petri Gornitzka.
"The road to recovery from COVID-19 must put children and young people at the heart of decision-making. As the leaders of tomorrow, they have the right to shape decisions made today.”
This week, UNICEF and Gallup launched the first-ever intergenerational poll on childhood today, showing that young people are 50 per cent more likely than older generations to believe the world is becoming a better place, but are impatient for action on mounting crises such as COVID-19 and climate change.
To hear and amplify their calls for a better world, presidents, ministers, and businesses joined children and young people at virtual and in-person events, including:
In West and Central Africa, UNICEF kicked off its first annual ’Youth Voices from the Sahel’ public debate, focusing on climate change, and bringing together experts, political stakeholders, high-profile individuals, and more than 100 young people aged 8-25 to debate and deliver a set of recommendations for leaders.
Children and young people hosted a meeting with the Presidents of Botswana, Namibia, Zambia, and Zimbabwe at the Kazungula Bridge where the borders of all four countries meet.
The bridge was also lit up blue in symbolic support for children. Heads of states, ministers and members of governments met with children in other countries including Denmark, Guinea Bissau, Guyana, Oman, Turkey, and Switzerland.
UNICEF Goodwill Ambassadors and high-profile supporters used their global platforms to help raise awareness and mobilize support for children’s rights and the issues affecting young people, including:
UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador Millie Bobby Brown called for children not to give up on adults in this year’s World Children’s Day signature video.
In a reverse to the norm, Brown points out how children are often given instruction from adults, and now calls for adults to listen to children.
UNICEF China Ambassador Wang Yuan (Roy Wang) released a new song to inspire children and young people.
UNICEF Norway Ambassador Penelope Lea chaired a conference with children, young people, and government leaders on climate change and sustainability.
From promoting child rights to lighting buildings blue, businesses and organizations showed their support to help children reimagine a better future, including FC Barcelona, Johnson & Johnson, the LEGO Group and the LEGO Foundation, Pandora, Z Zurich Foundation, and the UN Foundation.
In the spirit of children and young people’s participation, UNICEF launched its first global TikTok activation designed by young creators with the support from TikTok.
Focusing on the positive impact of youth advocacy, the #OlderSelfTalk activation asks young people to have a conversation with their older self on some of the current issues that matter to their generation.
Iconic landmarks and buildings around the world turned blue as a symbol of unity, including the Tour Eiffel in France, the The Rashtrapati Bhavan in India, the Dharahara Tower in Nepal, Expo 2020 Dubai in the UAE, the Historic Victoria Falls Bridge in Zimbabwe, the Lahore Fort in Pakistan, Petra in Jordan, a section of the Great Wall in China, Chichen Itza in Mexico, the Bran Draculas Castle in Romania, and other buildings and landmarks, including in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Germany and Panama.
Expo 2020 Dubai championed child rights with youth-led celebrations and policy-focused events featuring UNICEF Ambassadors and Youth Advocates.
Two UNICEF Youth Advocates were appointed during a concert: TIME’s Kid of the Year Gitanjali Rao and member of the Emirati Children's Parliament Saeed bin Omar Almutaiwei.
In addition to these appointments, UNICEF Youth Advocates and young National Ambassadors around the world were appointed to help raise children and young people’s voices.
President,PM pay homage to martyred members of Armed Forces
President Mohammad Abdul Hamid and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Sunday paid homage to the martyred members of the Armed Forces on the occasion of the Armed Forces Day 2021.
The President, who is also the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, and the Prime Minister separately placed wreaths at the altar of Shikha Anirban (flame eternal) at Dhaka Cantonment in the morning.
They stood there in solemn silence for a while as a mark of respect to memories of the martyrs who made the supreme sacrifice during the War of Liberation in 1971.
A smartly-turned out contingent drawn from Army, Navy and Air Force presented a guard of honour at that time, while bugle played the last post.
Later, the President and the Prime Minister, also in-charge of the Ministry of Defence, signed the visitor’s book kept on the premises of Shikha Anirban.
Earlier on her arrival at Shikha Anirban, the Prime Minister was received by Chief of Army Staff General SM Shafiuddin Ahmed, Chief of Naval Staff Admiral M Shaheen Iqbal, Chief of Air Staff Air Chief Marshal Shaikh Abdul Hannan and Principal Staff Officer (PSO) of the Armed Forces Division (AFD) Lieutenant General Waker-Uz-Zaman.
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After the wreath-placing ceremony, the Prime Minister went to the Armed Forces Division (AFD) where PM’s security affairs adviser Major General (rtd) Tarique Ahmed Siddique and chiefs of the three services made a courtesy call on her.
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On this day in 1971, the Bangladesh Armed Forces comprising Army, Navy and Air Force, came into being and launched an all-out attack on the Pakistani occupation forces which sped up the victory in the Liberation War.
Since the independence of the country, this historic day is being observed as the Armed Forces Day every year.
DAP to underpin Dhaka’s planned development
Local Government and Rural Development (LGRD) Minister Md Tajul Islam on Saturday said that the Dhaka will not be allowed to be built in an unorganized way, rather it will be developed in a planned way.
The Minister urged the people's representatives, government officials, town planners, real estate businessmen, architects and all concerned to come forward for its implementation after finalizing the Detailed Area Plan (DAP).
The Minister came up with this remark while addressing a national seminar organized by RAJUK at Hotel Sonargaon to finalize the draft detailed area plan-DAP (2016-2035).
Sufia Kamal’s 22nd death anniversary observed
The 22nd death anniversary of Begum Sufia Kamal, country's trailblazing woman activist, poet and educationist was observed on Saturday.
The day was observed in a befitting manner by different socio-cultural organisations, unlike last year’s limited programs due to the pandemic being near its peak.
Commemorating the eminent personality, President Abdul Hamid and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina issued separate massages.
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Besides, several socio-cultural organisations including Bangladesh Mahila Parishad remembered the poet on social media.
Bangladesh Mahila Parishad is the organization of which Sufia Kamal was the founding president.
A woman ahead of her time, Sufia Kamal was instrumental in naming the first women’s dormitory of Dhaka University as Rokeya Hall after Begum Rokeya, the legendary educationist who was her own inspiration.
Born on June 20, 1911 at Shayestabad, Barishal to Abdul Bari and Sabera Begum, Begum Sufia Kamal went on to become a civil society leader and a pioneer activist for women’s rights. She played active roles in the 1952 Language Movement, the oppressions against the nation before and during the 1971 Liberation War and every human rights movement in independent Bangladesh till her demise.
Despite lacking formal education during her childhood, she learned multiple languages at her home including Bengali, Hindi, English, Urdu, Arabic, Kurdish and Persian. Her first book of poems, Sanjher Maya (The Eventide Spell), was published from Kolkata in 1938 and praised by legendary litterateur Kazi Nazrul Islam and Rabindranath Tagore.
As a poet and writer, she then went on authoring more than a dozen volumes of poetry and several volumes of short stories, short novels, travelogues, etc. Her journal entries in Ekatturer Diary (Diary of 71) narrated the horrific stories during the 1971 Liberation War. She was the founding editor of Begum, country's maiden women’s magazine.
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Sufia Kamal was the founding-chairperson of The Bangladesh Women’s Rehabilitation Board, Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee (now Brac), and Dustha Punarbasan Sangstha. She was the president of Chhayanaut, Bangladesh Protibondhi Foundation and Nari Kalyan Sangstha.
Sufia Kamal received a large number of awards including the Tamgha-i-Imtiaz (1961), a major national award conferred by the Pakistani government that she returned in 1969 in protest at the then government’s oppressive treatment to Bengali people. Her major achievements include Bangla Academy Award for Literature (1962), Ekushey Padak (1976), Jatiya Kabita Parishad Award (1995), Women’s Federation for World Peace Crest (1996), Begum Rokeya Padak (1996), Deshbandhu CR Das Gold Medal (1996), Independence Day Award (1997), Czechoslovakia Medal (1986) and more.
Besides, the National Public Library in Dhaka is named the Sufia Kamal National Public Library and Bangladesh National Museum named one of its main auditoriums in her honour.
Sufia Kamal passed away on November 20, 1999. She was survived by her three daughters and two sons, including Sultana Kamal, a noted human rights activist and former adviser in the Caretaker government of Bangladesh.
Myanmar Navy detains 22 Bangladeshi fishermen on four trawlers
Twenty-two Bangladeshi fishermen were detained and their four trawlers were seized Saturday by members of the Myanmar Navy from the Bay of Bengal.
Saint Martin Union Parishad Chairman Nur Ahmed said Myanmar Navy seized four of the trawlers owned by residents of the area with the 22 fishermen on board around 10am Saturday, from the east side of the island when they were out in the sea fishing.
Border Guard of Bangladesh and the Coast Guard have been informed about the incident, said the chairman.
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According to local fishermen, those 22 fishermen went in the sea around Friday evening on trawlers owned by Nurul Amin, Md Azim, Md Hossain and Md Younus.
Some members of Myanmar Navy crossed the maritime boundary on Saturday morning and took control of the trawlers at gunpoint, they said.
Trawler owner Md Azim said his trawler was taken with six fishermen onboard, along with the other three trawlers.
An official from the Coast Guard’s Saint Martin station said it is being investigated whether the detained fishermen were Bangladeshi citizens or members of the Rohingya community.
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Teknaf Upazila Nirbahi Officer Parvez Chowdhury said BGB and Coast Guard will take actions in this regard after investigation.
Fire at Gulshan high-rise brought under control
A fire broke out at a high-rise building in the Gulshan-2 area of Dhaka on Friday around 9pm.
On information, five firefighting units rushed to the spot and brought the blaze under control after 20 minutes. The fire had broken out on the third floor of the 14-storied building.
Sources said that fire originated around 9pm.
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However, the source of the fire could not be known immediately.
No casualties were reported, said Md. Raihan, Station Officer of Media Cell, Fire Service and Civil Defense Headquarters. "The fire was doused at 10:40pm."
IGP leaves for Turkey to attend Interpol general assembly
Inspector General of Police (IGP) Benazir Ahmed left for Turkey on Saturday to attend the 89th Interpol General Assembly.
He will lead a five-member delegation to the 3-day conference that will be held in Turkey on November 23-25, said AIG (Media) of the Police headquarters Md Kamruzzaman.
The International Criminal Police Organization, commonly known as Interpol, is an international organization that facilitates worldwide police cooperation and crime control.
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At the conference, police representatives from 194 member countries of Interpol will formulate various policies on the current global security situation, international and inter-state crime, violence, fundamentalism and terrorism, money laundering, organized crime, cybercrime, pornography, abuse of women and children, sexual harassment and data management of miscellaneous crimes, and will take plan adoption and determine implementation strategy in this regards.
Besides, the conference will focus on mutual cooperation in inter-state crime detection and suppression strategies, enhancing the capacity of the police and various issues related to current and future crimes and what needs to be done to resolve the crisis, he said.
The IGP of Bangladesh will have a courtesy meeting with the Secretary General of Interpol, the police chiefs of friendly countries including their representatives from ASEANPOL and their delegations and discuss matters of mutual interest, the AIG (media) added.
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ASEANAPOL is the National Police organisation for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)
The delegation is expected to return to the country on November 27 after attending the 89th Interpol General Assembly.
Ophthalmologists’ national workshop: ROP emerges as a growing public health concern
Ophthalmologists have identified Retinopathy of Prematurity (ROP), a leading cause of blindness among children in the developed world, as a growing public health concern for Bangladesh.
Speaking at a national workshop on ROP in the capital on Saturday (20 Nov), they said approximately 3.8 million babies are born in Bangladesh each year of whom, 438,000 are born pre-term.
According to them, a large portion of the pre-term babies face the risk of blindness due to ROP.
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Directorate General of Health Services’ (DGHS) Director General Prof Dr Abul Bashar Mohammed Khurshid Alam was present at the workshop as the chief guest while Directorate General of Medical Education’s (DGME) Director General Prof AHM Enayet Hussain, also the Chair of IAPB Bangladesh Chapter, presented the keynote paper.
DGHS Director Dr Md Shamsul Haque presided over the session while UNICEF Bangladesh Chief Health Dr Sanjana Bhardwaj, Orbis International Bangladesh Country Director Dr Munir Ahmed, and IRD Global Bangladesh Country Director Dr Tapash Roy joined it as the special guests. Prof Md Saifullah from National Eye Care/NIOH and Prof Nazmun Nahar from Ispahani Islamia Eye Institute and Hospital also joined the workshop.
The NNHP & IMCI Program of DGHS, with support from DGME, IRD Global, Orbis International and UNICEF, organised the workshop to foster multi-sectorial response and create an enabling coordination platform for the prevention of avoidable childhood blindness due to ROP in Bangladesh.
The DGHS director general, in his speech said “ROP is one of the severe problems among premature babies. We’ll try to include ROP in the revised version of Maternal, Neonatal and Child Health Plan operation and in the National Eye Care plan in the near future.”
“I believe that the guideline that will be formulated today will prove to be a milestone,” he added.
He advised formulation of the guideline considering the fact that some things might be included and some excluded from it.
He thanked the obstetrics and gynaecology society for being directly involved in the government’s achievement in the health sector.
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The keynote presenter while reflecting on IAPB and WHO’s journey of 20 years said, “It was a race against time. We started working on childhood blindness in an organized manner in 2000 by launching Paediatric Ophthalmology Department at the National Institute of Ophthalmology. We started working with two programmes- crash programme and system strengthening.”
He further mentioned, “In 2003 we started a programme where we identified children with childhood blindness at the field level and conducted eye surgery on 25,000 children till 2010. So far we have established 22 paediatric ophthalmology centres across the country. Although we could not reach the 0.5 benchmark set by WHO, childhood blindness in the country came down to 0.6 in 2017 from 0.8 in 2003.”
He emphasized on strengthening the primary health care services, preventing preterm delivery and ensuring labour room protocol to prevent ROP.
Dr Munir Ahmed in his speech as the special guest said, “ROP is a life threatening condition that can be prevented if timely screened and treated. We need to ensure eye screening of children within 20/30 days after their birth. We need to work together in an organized manner to prevent ROP. This workshop aims at validating the collaborative efforts of ROP guidelines.”
According to papers presented at the workshop, in 2020 an estimated 1.1 billion people had vision impairment globally, of whom 43.3 million are blind.
Referring to global estimates, speakers said one out of every five children has some sort of vision problems globally and that ROP is responsible for some of the problems that occur during childhood and can lead to blindness if untreated.
According to the speakers, visual loss not only affects individuals and their families but also the community and country at large, resulting in a greater loss of productivity and taking its toll on the economy.
4 workers burnt in Rupganj rice mill fire
Four workers suffered burn injuries in a fire that broke out at City Auto Rice & Dal Mill at Rupshi area of Rupganj upazila in Narayanganj on Saturday.
The injured were identified as Belayert Hossain, 55, Sirazul Islam, 50, Hazrat Ali, 45, and Rana, 30.
The fire broke out on Saturday afternoon and five units of firefighters managed to bring it under control around 5:30 pm, said Tanharul Islam, deputy director of Narayanganj Fire Service and Civil Defense.
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Three of the workers with severe burns were sent to Dhaka Medical College Hospital while Rana was admitted at a local hospital, he said.
The flames started in wheat sacks kept beside the boiler of the mill, said the Fire Service official.
The mill authority incurred minor amount of damage from the fire, he said.
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British Council’s 'UK 1971: People's Solidarity with Bangladesh's Liberation’ exhibition begins
In commemoration of the British Council's 70th anniversary in Dhaka, the organization has launched a series of creative collaborations, including a special photography exhibition titled 'UK 1971: People's Solidarity with Bangladesh's Liberation.'
State Minister of Cultural Affairs KM Khaled inaugurated the exhibition on Saturday at the Liberation War Museum, Agargaon in the capital while British Council's global Chairman Stevie Spring CBE joined the event as special guest.
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The members of the Board of Trustees of the Liberation War Museum including Sara Zaker and Dr Sarwar Ali, and senior officials of the British council were also present at the event.The exhibition consists of collections from Archive London 1971 and Liberation War Museum, showcasing 40 rare photographs, highlighting the public movement in the UK, in support of the Liberation War of Bangladesh.
From Nottingham to Birmingham to London, this archival collection documents Bengali diaspora communities as they raised their voices in solidarity for a liberated Bangladesh in 1971.In his speech, KM Khalid said, ”The Liberation War of Bangladesh instigated a massive uproar in the international community, especially Bangladeshi diaspora in the UK. I am pleased that the British Council, the Liberation War Museum and Archive London 1971 have taken the initiative to document the support and cooperation that was extended to us by the UK during 1971, which is continued till date.”“Currently, the UK holds the second largest Bangladeshi Diaspora Community, forming one of the UK's largest groups of people of overseas descent and also one of the youngest and fastest growing communities. During our 1971 Liberation War, the UK government and the people of the UK wholeheartedly supported us, for which we are thankful,” Khalid said at the event.Referring to the exhibition, Stevie Spring CBE, Chairman, British Council said’ “The ‘UK 1971:People's Solidarity with Bangladesh's Liberation' exhibition is a reminder of the massive outpouring of support from the British Public For Bangladesh's Liberation movement in 1971. Over the last 50 years, the friendship between our two countries has grown stronger, and our connections are closer than ever before.”“These cultural ties are further reinforced through the large and active Bangladeshi diaspora community in the UK, many of whom were involved in the liberation War demonstrations across the UK, half a century ago,” Spring added.
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