‘Ensure a gender-responsive approach recognising women’s increased role in recovery and rebuilding efforts’

Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen today said efforts must be made for ensuring a gender-responsive approach recognizing women's increased role in recovery and rebuilding efforts in the post conflict and humanitarian settings.

The Foreign Minister further urged the international community to renew its commitments to working together to ensure full, equal and meaningful participation of women in building and sustaining peace.

Dr Momen stated this at a High-Level International Conference on Women, Peace and Security (WPS) organized by Government of the Vietnam with the support of the United Nations today.

Recognising the role of Women in our liberation war, Foreign Minister said, "our women have not only been victims of war, they also actively participated in our war of liberation." 

He emphasized that the Government has prioritised women empowerment through education and integrating them into economic activities and thereby enabling them to perform non-traditional roles beyond their households. 

Highlighting Bangladesh's tremendous development in women empowerment, the Foreign Minister said immediately after independence, Father of our Nation, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, placed women at the heart of the country's development agenda.

"Women in Bangladesh are now active agents of our socio-economic changes and development initiatives." 

Dr Momen maintained that Bangladesh recognises women's role in influencing community and family values and identifying early signs of radicalisation and encourage their leadership at the community, national and international levels.

The Foreign Minister urged UN agencies and international partners to support Governments in their women's development and empowerment efforts to  strengthen women's role in building and sustaining Peace,

He also stressed the importance to increase women's participation in peacekeeping.

To advance the WPS agenda, the Foreign Minister mentioned six specific points that underscored, among others,  women's meaningful participation through education and training, ensuring justice and accountability for conflict-related violence on women, mainstreaming gender perspective in peacekeeping missions and increased and sustainable provisions of funding for effective implementation of WPS agenda.

The conference was attended by high level delegations from UN member states and major peacekeeping nations