British ministers, House of Lords members, and cross-party members of the UK Parliament lauded Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina for championing women's empowerment and gender equality at an event organized by the Bangladesh High Commission in London Tuesday.
State Minister for Foreign Affairs M Shahriar Alam was the chief guest at the "Bangladesh-UK@50: Empowering women and girls towards agenda 2030," organized to celebrate International Women's Day 2023.
UK Minister for London and Minister of State at the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology Paul Scully MP, UK Prime Minister's Special Envoy for Girls' Education Helen Grant MP, Shadow Minister for Asia and the Pacific Catherine West MP, and Chair of All-Party Parliamentary Group on Bangladesh Rushanara Ali MP spoke at the event.
Vice chairs of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Bangladesh Afzal Khan MP, Tahir Ali MP, Lord Dholakia, Lord Rami Ranger, Deputy Leader of Labour Lords and Shadow Minister for Foreign Affairs and International Development Lord Collins, Deputy Leader of Liberal Democrats Daisy Cooper MP, Member of Justice and Home Affairs Committee Baroness Prashar, Baroness Verma, Baroness Uddin and eminent organizer of Bangladesh's freedom movement in the UK Sultan Mahmud Sharif also joined the discussion.
The event, co-hosted by Lord Popat, brought together women ambassadors and high commissioners from different countries, representatives of leading think tanks and civil society organisations, academics and eminent members of the British-Bangladeshi diaspora.
Highlighting Sheikh Hasina's contributions to women empowerment that earned her the "Agent of Change" award and "Planet 50-50 Champion' honour, Shahriar said: "Bangabandhu's visionary daughter Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina put women empowerment at the core of national development and achieved for Bangladesh the highest credentials in gender parity, not only in South Asia but also globally.
"Since Bangladesh's independence, the UK has been a steadfast partner in its success and aspirations regarding women empowerment," the state minister said and called on the UK government to implement a skill development program for Bangladeshi girls through the British Council that would improve their access to education and employment.
Paul praised Sheikh Hasina for empowering women and sheltering and protecting over 1.1 million Rohingyas displaced from their country Myanmar.
Muna said: "It was Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina who led from the front in adopting sustained policy initiatives to empower our women including the two national women advancement and development policies, first in 1997 and second in 2011.
"For the past 50 years, Bangladesh and the United Kingdom have remained excellent partners in the empowerment of women and educating girl children, which we hope would continue to remain a key pillar of every facet of our bilateral cooperation. She thanked the British ministers and MPs for their sustained support to the sexually violated and forcibly displaced Rohingya women sheltered by Bangladesh."
Also, the high commissioner commended British-Bangladeshi women for their outstanding achievements in various fields, including politics, judiciary, business, sports, media, and the hospitality industry.
Helen hoped that the bilateral relations between the UK and Bangladesh would be strengthened in the future.
Maya Sivagnanam, deputy director of UK FCDO India and Indian Ocean Directorate, read out a statement on behalf of UK Minister for Women Maria Caulfield.
In her statement, Caulfield commended Bangladesh's extraordinary journey over the past decade towards gender parity, especially at workplaces and schools and assured the UK's continuous support to the country for women's empowerment and girls' education.
Popat praised Hasina's "extraordinary leadership to undertake ground-breaking" policy and programme initiatives to empower Bangladesh women politically, economically, legally and socially both in the public as well as private spheres.
At the event, Shahriar along with UK Minister Paul Skully, Muna and other distinguished guests handed over the "Bangabandhu-Thomas Williams QC Friendship Award 2022" to Cherie Blair, founder of the Cherie Blair Foundation, for her contributions to promoting girls' education in Bangladesh.
Cherie said: "I'm a passionate believer in the power of women like Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina who is inspired by her father to ensure that women get their fair share of the wealth and opportunities in their country."
