Staff Reporter:
Women and Children Affairs and Social Welfare Minister Prof Dr AZM Zahid Hossain yesterday said lasting solutions to social crises and crimes require psychological transformation and coordinated community-level psychosocial initiatives, rather than relying solely on law enforcement, court trials and institutional expansion.
“Unless we thoroughly analyse the underlying social and familial causes behind crimes and ensure lasting remedies, no problem can truly be solved,” he said.
The minister was speaking as chief guest at a national seminar organized by the Clinical Social Workers Association of Bangladesh (CSWAB) at the Alumni Association Auditorium of Dhaka University’s Nabab Nawab Ali Chowdhury Senate Bhaban.
Highlighting Bangladesh’s demographic challenges, Zahid said women account for 51 percent of the population, while 34 percent are under the age of 18. He stressed the need for targeted psychosocial interventions for these groups.
Expressing concern over the country’s 51 percent child marriage rate, he said legal enforcement alone could not eliminate the practice without changing social attitudes and raising awareness about its harmful effects on the physical and psychological well-being of mothers and children.
The minister also underscored the shortage of trained frontline social workers and called for a stronger grassroots workforce to deliver social services. Citing the agricultural and health sectors as examples, he stressed the need for a similar community-based network for social welfare.
He said the government was working to transform existing institutions into people-centred organisations and urged NGOs, researchers and academics to collaborate with the government.
Speaking as a special guest, State Minister for Health and Family Welfare Dr M A Muhit stressed the need to raise public awareness about mental health, noting that depression can affect people who appear healthy and function normally in their daily lives.
He identified adolescent mental health, digital addiction and parental separation as emerging concerns requiring greater attention. He also called for a stronger focus on intimate partner violence, domestic trauma and perinatal and postpartum depression.
CSWAB President Prof Tahmina Akhtar presided over the seminar, while Dhaka University Vice-Chancellor Prof Dr ABM Obaidul Islam attended as a guest.
