Call to end child marriage
BSS
Building social awareness among people is an urgent need for establishing a child marriage-free society, according to some experts, policymakers and social workers, reports BSS.
Combined efforts of all, government and non-government organizations are very important to reach the goal. The government or any other single organisation cant do this alone.
The observation came from a round-table on child marriage held at a city restaurant on Thursday. Ladies Organization for Social Welfare (LOFS) and World Vision Bangladesh jointly organized the meeting.
Mayor of Rajshahi City Corporation (RCC) Mosaddique Hossain Bulbul addressed the meeting as the chief guest with LOFS Vice-president Azizur Rahman in the chair.
RCC Panel Mayor Nurun Nahar Begum, LOFS Executive Director Shahnaz Parveen Lucky and its panel lawyer Shahinul Haque, World Vision Senior Manager Diamond Jemper Ghagra and its Programme Officer Debashis Snal and Coordinator of BLAST Advocate Abdus Samad also spoke.Mayor Bulbul said child marriage couldnt be prevented without boosting mass-awareness. Eradicating child marriage and violence against women is imperative for a glorious Bangladesh.He said that equal rights to education, training, science and technology is a precondition for women empowerment. Overall national development could not be possible until the girl children are educated and their fundamental rights ensured.The practice of child marriage is very damaging, especially for girls. It seems girls are treated as burden to society, mostly in slums and rural areas. Terming child marriage a gross violation of human rights, Mayor Bulbul said children are being married off frequently, despite multifarious interventions by the government and non-government organizations concerned.
It is vital to increase awareness about the negative impacts of early marriage with the help of the mass media. He stated that utmost importance should be given to check early marriage of children.
