The rural women have been effectively contributing to alleviate abject poverty in recent years in accelerating socioeconomic advancement and attaining sustainable development in rural areas, reports BSS.
Most of these successful rural women lived amid abject poverty even a decade ago, they are now dreaming for a better future and sending their children to schools though they had to struggle only for survival in the pasts.
They have also contributed in bringing rural households under sanitation coverage, raised voice against repression, child marriage, dowry, polygamy, superstitions and adopted proper family planning to reduce population growth rate.
Because of their appreciable awareness about various issues, rates of maternal and neonatal deaths, malnutrition of the children, women and pregnant women have been reduced to the minimum everywhere, including remote char areas.
Talking to BSS, the successful rural women said it became possible only after attaining economic self-reliance through hard endevours with assistance of various programmes of the government, including social safety-net, NGOs and donor agencies. They have already driven away the seasonal curse of extreme poverty, commonly known as ‘monga’, from the northern region as the downtrodden women have now become economically solvent through various income generation activities.
Successful women Atika Begum, Nahar Banu, Shyamoli Rani, Kohinoor and Sonavan of different villages in Rangpur narrated their success stories and stressed on ensuring equal women rights through empowering them socially and politically.
They have achieved success through sewing handloom garments, small-scale enterprise and business, animal husbandry, rearing poultry birds, selling labours as farm- labourers, homestead gardening, farming fruits, spices, fish and other agricultural activities.
Many of them have become self-reliant through homestead gardening and setting up of smaller cottage industries, participatory social forestation, microcredit activities and income generations under the government’s social safety net programmes.
Shirin Begum, Nirmola Rani, Kajoli Rani and Lucky of several villages in Kurigram said achieving self-reliance made them successful in rooting out the decades-old seasonal curse of ‘monga’ that created untold sufferings to them in the pasts.
Female day-labourers Sabina Yasmin, Nasrine Akhter, Rozina Begum, Mohsena Khatun, Bulbuli Begum and Kohinoor of Tentulia upazila in Panchagarh said they have achieved economic self-reliance by plucking green tea leaves in the tea gardens.
Arzina Begum, China Khatun, Marjina Akhter, Sudha Rani and Aklima of different villages in Lalmonirhat and Nilphamari said they have achieved self-reliance through the government’s various social safety-net programmes and income generation activities.
While narrating their success stories on winning against poverty and hunger, the successful rural women said they have been living now better and their children going to schools and though their days were miserable even a decade ago.