DHAKA, June 9, 2020 (BSS) – State Minister for Women and Children Affairs Fazilatun Nesa Indira today urged the United Nations (UN) Women and International Organizations to support women’s employment and development during the global coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
“Women around the world are facing a variety of financial, social and health crisis due to the coronavirus pandemic. Women are losing their jobs and entrepreneurs’ businesses have been closed,” she said while delivering a virtual speech at a conference today.
The state minister addressed a video conference “Towards Gender Responsive COVID-19 Recovery: Experience from Asia and Pacific” at the UN Women’s Regional Office in Bangkok.
Director of UN Women’s Regional Office in Bangkok Mohammad Naciri moderated the virtual conference, where nine women affairs ministers from Asia Pacific region joined.
Anita Bhatia, assistant secretary general of UN and executive director of UN Women, gave a welcome address.
In her speech, the state minister said due to the corona infection globally, the standard of women has dropped and they are being subjected to violence.
She has urged the UN agencies, international development agencies and development partners to come forward with aid for working women, women entrepreneurs and businesswomen affected by the coronavirus crisis.
Indira said 70 percent of doctors, nurses and health workers working as front fighters in dealing the COVID-19 were women, adding, “Women are not at home now when the world is in crisis. In Bangladesh too, women are working in various challenging professions including health sector with skills and bold leadership holding upper positions.”
She made some recommendations including financial assistance, home-based work and access to all public and private personalities for providing help in Asia-Pacific region to overcome the corona crisis.
In the recommendation, Indira added that the world leaders must work together to eradicate the disease COVID-19 from the earth forever, with giving utmost emphasis on research and development.
She further said after the first corona positive case in Bangladesh on March 8, 2020, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina took various effective steps for health sector and treatment of people by giving special priority to women and child health.
“The government has recently appointed 10,000 doctors, nurses and health assistants,” the state minister said.
Indira also said crores of people around the world have become unemployed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. International trade, trade and economic growth have stalled. In this situation, people of different professions including women have faced huge financial crisis in Bangladesh.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has announced 19 packages worth over Taka 1 lakh crore to mobilize employment and economy of the affected people.
The packages include special fund of Taka 5,000 crore for export oriented industries, working capital facility of Taka 20,000 crore for small and medium enterprises, refinancing scheme of Taka 3,000 crore for small entrepreneurs, new job creation of Taka 2,000 crore from which women entrepreneurs and traders will get benefit.
Women and Child Development Minister of India Smriti Zubin Irani, Foreign Affairs and Women’s Affairs Minister in Australia Marise Ann Payne, Women’s Affairs Minister in Fiji Merseini Vuniwaqa, Women’s Affairs Minister in Cambodia ING Kantha Phavi, Chairperson of Women Affairs Commission of Philippine Rhodora Bocoy, Social Welfare and Relief Minister of Myanmar Win Myat Aye, Gender and Family Minister of Korea LEE Jung-ok and Secretary of the Ministry of Social Development and Security of Thailand and Director General of Women’s Development in Japan attended the virtual meeting.
Secretary of Women and Children Affairs Ministry Kazi Raushan Akter and senior officials were also present.
Anita Bhatia said more than 50 percent of the total population is women, adding, “We need to increase investment in women’s development. There is no alternative to giving priority to women in tackling COVID-19.”
The participants made recommendations for overcoming the COVID-19 and highlighted women’s development in the conference.