Staff Reporter:
Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Md Asaduzzaman yesterday said the government has formally begun its initiative to ensure economic empowerment of women at all levels through the distri-bution of ‘Family Cards’.
“The ownership of these cards has been given to female members of the family, which reflects the gov-ernment’s respect and care for women,” he said while addressing a seminar titled ‘Fight, Justice, Action for All Women and Girls’ at the Bangladesh Military Museum this morning.
The seminar was organized by Manusher Jonno Foundation (MJF) with financial support from the Eu-ropean Union marking International Women’s Day. UN Women and the embassies of Switzerland, Can-ada and Sweden provided overall support to the program.
“The government thinks about its people. It cares about the people, human rights, and women. That is why, just 21 days into this government’s tenure, a nationwide program has been launched yesterday to issue family cards as the first major national initiative. Women will be able to bring multiple benefits to their families through these cards,” the law minister added.
Asaduzzaman said around 37,000 family cards have been issued initially under a pilot project, with the ownership given to the female head of the household or another female member of the family.
“If women can become economically self-reliant through this family card initiative, they will be able to break free from the darkness of superstition. It will also raise awareness about their rights and help pro-tect them from becoming victims of superstition and fundamentalism,” he added.
He said if the initiative receives adequate support, it will benefit more than 40.01 million poor and ultra-poor families across the country, adding that the program will be implemented strictly based on eligibil-ity without any political consideration.
The minister also warned that any corruption in the issuance of family cards would be dealt with strictly.
At the seminar, MJF Program Coordinator Ruma Sultana presented the keynote paper. The event was attended by MJF Executive Director Shahin Anam, BLAST Executive Director Barrister Sara Hossain, UN Women Country Director Gitanjali Singh, and many others.
