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PM seeks UN help to improve child, maternal health

UNB.Dtata
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday sought enhanced assistance from the United Nations (UN) for improving child and maternal health as well as empowering the womenfolk in the country. as she listed some setbacks in the population sector in recent times.
She made the call when Representative of UNFPA (United Nations Population Fund) in Bangladesh Arthur I Erken paid a courtesy call on her at the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) on the eve of World Population Day on July 11.
Hasina reiterated her government’s commitment to establishing social safety net through creating huge employ -ment opportunities and empowering women, providing quality heal tli services to people from all walks of life, particularly to mothers and children.
In line with the dream of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman of building a healthy nation, the last Awami league (AL) government had taken a project of setting up 18.000 community health clinics across the country and some 4,000 of the clinics were made functional in full swing, she added.
The prime minister said the main purpose of the project was to take quality health facilities to the rural people, mothers and children.
But, Hasina deplored, the last BNP-Jamaat government had stopped the community health clinic project "only for political reason’ .
People's longevity also increased during the five-year rule of Awami League govern-
ment, but later the longevity reduced in a setback, she told the UN executive.
"The community health clinics could have played a tremendous role in making the country's population healthy and creating employment opportunities in the rural areas." she said.
The present government will reintroduce the community health clinics, as it believes that a country cannot advance towards sustainable development without a healthy population, the premier said.
Hasina also informed the UNFPA representative about the government's strong commitment for empowering the women.
She said AL in the last general election gave direct nomination to a considerable number of women and now the deputy leader of the house, ministers for agriculture, home and foreign affairs and state minister for labour are all women which reflects the government’s stand for women empowerment.
Hasina described early marriage as one of the main obstacles to development of the women community and identified poverty, illiteracy and social insecurity as some of the major reasons behind the early mar riage.
She observed that through merely enacting and implementing laws early marriage cannot be stopped. "People will have to be made educated and poverty must be eradicated to empower the women."
The UNFPA official briefed the prime minister about the UN activities in support of the Bangladesh government's population policy.
He highlighted several features of the UNFPA's support, including improving
maternal health, promotion of family planning and addressing gender issues.
Arthur gave a brief resume on the status of maternal and reproductive health in Bangladesh and illustrated some opportunities to enhance greater thrust on the effectiveness of the national family planning programme in Bangladesh.
The UN executive congratulated the PM on the AL-led grand alliance's stunning victory in the last election and her assumption of the office and assured more assistance in the population sector.
Prime Minister's Press Secretary Abul Kalam Azad briefed newsmen after the meeting. PMO Secretary Mollah Waheeduzzaman and former ambassador M Ziauddin were present.