CARE Bangladesh organized an inauguration event titled “Girls Leading Change”, bringing together Community Based Organizations (CBOs) in a collaborative effort.
The event is part of the Accelerating Action to End Child Marriage (AAECM) project of CARE Bangladesh, funded by The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).
This inauguration event was attended by 120 individuals, including donors, senior-level government representatives, INGOs, and CBOs. The event showcased the role and contribution of CBOs in promoting girls' rights, empowerment, and the importance of a "Locally-led, globally connected" approach.
30 CBOs from 6 districts (Bagerhat, Bogura, Gaibandha, Jamalpur, Patuakhali and Sirajganj) will implement CARE’s Learning Community on the Move (LCOM) model that supports girl-led programming, starting from training of girls’ mentors and then enabling the girls themselves to voice their choices and join to advocating for their rights.
Through the event, CARE Bangladesh promotes awareness about its engagement with CBOs and the process through which collaboration will secure girls' rights and empower them. CARE Bangladesh intends to create scalable and sustainable solutions to combating child marriage in Bangladesh by leveraging existing networks and fostering collaboration with key stakeholders.
The partnership between CARE and CBOs represents a significant step towards ending child marriage, ensuring that girls can enjoy their childhoods and lead healthier, safer, and more empowered lives. By working closely with local communities and stakeholders, AAECM aims to accelerate action, drive positive change, and create a brighter future for girls in Bangladesh.
Sakina Sultana, Team Leader-Tipping Point of CARE Bangladesh emphasized on the importance of collective efforts specially engaging CBOs to mentor adolescent girls to implement LCOM, a participatory and girl-led approach.
Humaira Farhanaz, Program Analyst – Gender, Adolescent & Youth of UNFPA Bangladesh said, “Partnering with CBOs is absolutely vital in order to effectively tackle the unique challenges faced by women and youth at the community level."
Kammrun Nahar, Assistant Director of Directorate of Secondary and Higher Education said “If a student is absent for more than 5 to 7 days, the local authority will contact the student's family and arrange for his/her return to school.”
Saleha Binte Siraz, Additional director of Department of Women Affairs said, “Not only girls, but also teenaged boys need to be included in this trend of change.”
Jannatul Ferdous, Project Director, AAECM-Phase ii, Department of Women Affairs said, “Every child's mental health should be taken very seriously”.
MA Akher, Director-Planning of Department of Youth Development said “We are missing out on one third of youth development because of the non-participation of girls who are affected by child marriage. We must make every effort to bring back those people in our population who are deprived of education, employment and training.”
Rawnak Jahan, Director (Acting), Women and Girls’ Empowerment, CARE Bangladesh said “I am envisioning that 150 girls from 6 districts are ready to lead the change and each of them will be Malala of Bangladesh.”
