Women’s full potential to contribute to economic and social progress is not yet maximized, according to a book on gender equality and the labor market launched at ADB’s headquarters in Manila, Philippines. Many people still think that women are only capable of taking care of the family and managing households — but there’s nothing farther from the truth nowadays.
For Asia to realize and unleash its potential as an economic and development powerhouse, changing that traditional mindset and looking at women as important development stakeholders and providing them with decent and better employment opportunities is absolutely vital, according to the Asian Development Bank. Women in Bangladesh, where the Asian Development Bank funds employment and t...
A United Nations study released on Friday shows that Bangladesh has the highest rates – among 11 Asian countries surveyed – of people lacking access to electricity, clean water and sanitation.
The 2014 UN World Water Development report, titled Facing the Challenges, ranks Bangladesh below countries including Myanmar, Indonesia and Cambodia in access to the essential services. The study uses data collected in 2011.
“This report points out the existing problems,” Engin Koncagul, a UN World Water Assessment program officer, said on Friday. “Water and energy is very critical for sustainable development … from all [population] segments.”
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Swimming in circles alongside a fishing boat, the excited cries of two short-haired otters ring out across a river in southern Bangladesh that feeds into the Sundarbans, the world's largest mangrove forest.
The fishermen lower a net into the water close to the banks of the river, and one by one, tails up, the animals dive under the water with a splash.
[caption id="attachment_5114" align="alignleft" width="300"]
A Bangladeshi fisherman releases his otter to catch fish in Narail, on March 11, 2014. AFP[/caption]...
Though a highly influential senior army officer in Bangladesh, Tofail Ahmed could only seethe when his child was rejected by the principal of an English-medium school in Dhaka.
Colonel Ahmed was summoned to the school one day in 2007, where the principal told him his 15-year-old son Ahnaf Tauhid Swapnil, had been expelled for creating constant trouble for his classmates.
But Ahnaf is a good student. He isn’t violent. He is autistic.
“My second son Ahnaf Tahmid Bornil (13) is also autistic. So, I failed to...
Bangladesh will be the latest country to joint the search and rescue (SAR) mission for missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370.
"Bangladesh patrol aircraft will be launched at dawn while ships tomorrow," sources close to the development told Bernama.
"All of Bangladesh's available resources will be deployed to assist Malaysia," said the source, who did not want to be quoted.
Among the first to join the mission would be two patrol aircraft and two friga...
Mukhta Mollah, 19, is one of the 350 factory workers at Beauty Garments Pvt. Ltd. She earns $20 working eight hours or longer a day, six days a week. Although her salary may not amount to a lot, working in the factory has given her a measure of independence.
The garment factory workers toil for paltry wages. But such jobs have also afforded Bangladeshi girls a measure of independence in a traditional Muslim society.
Mukhta Mollah deftly smooths the red fabric and guides it through a whirling sewing machine. She sews side seams on women’s blouses bound for America. Eight hours a day or longer in this hot and sweaty factory. Six days a week.
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