Prevention of child marriage has become a must to promote female education to ensure their equal rights for attaining the sustainable development goals (SDGs), reports BSS.
The views were expressed on Saturday afternoo at a view-exchange meeting on “Prevention of Child Marriage” held at Begum Rokeya auditorium of RDRS Bangladesh in the city.
The district administration and Department of Women Affairs in cooperation with RDRS Bangladesh and Plan International Bangladesh organized the meeting. Around 200 participants like officials of government and non-governmental offices and organisations, public representatives, marriage registrars, Imams, civil society members, women rights activists and professionals attended the event.
With Director (Filed Operations) of RDRS Bangladesh Humayun Khaled in the chair, Deputy Commissioner Md. Asib Ahsan attended the meeting as the chief guest. Deputy Director of the District Department of Women Affairs Kawser Pervin, Special Public Prosecutor to the Women and Children Repression Prevention Tribunal-1 of Rangpur Advocate Rafique Hasnine, Senior Manager
(Women Rights Unit) of RDRS Bangladesh Mezbahun Nahar, addressed as special guests. The chief guest urged the participants to play leading roles in preventing child marriage to build a better society free from all sorts of social curses, repressions and violence against women.
“Marriage registrars, Imams, union parisahd chairmen and members can effectively prevent child marriage properly checking smart national identity cards and birth registration documents,” he said. Mezbahun Nahar highlighted the present situation of child marriage of premature girls saying that the social curse shatters life of teenage girls hindering their education. “Early marriage leads teenage girls towards catastrophic lives destroying their mental and physical health and future along with causing neonatal and maternal deaths in many rural areas of the district,” Nahar added. Advocate Hasnine stressed on creating social awareness for proper implementation of the Child Marriage Restraint Act 2017 involving adolescents, youths, government and NGO officials, public representatives, religious leaders and marriage registrars.
