People speak about how our society, values, culture, family bond, and reputation are in ruins. However, we know that many aspects of our traditions go against women and their equal rights. Even our literature promotes child marriage and depicts girls as a burden for their families.

World Food Day 2020 marks the 75th anniversary of FAO in an exceptional moment as countries around the world deal with the widespread effects of the global COVID-19 pandemic. On this momentous occasion, The Daily Star and ALRD have come together to arrange today’s discussion.

The rural population in our country have been facing various issues in regards to the accessibility of water. Our discussion today will bring attention to these issues related to the management of the water bodies in the rural areas and its effects on our marginalised population.

In February 2019, the High Court Division (HCD) of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh delivered a landmark decision granting all rivers with ‘legal personhood,’ declaring all rivers in Bangladesh to have legal protection.

Today’s topic of discussion is “ Sustainable river basin management to solve the waterlogging crisis of south-west Bangladesh” We will be analysing the problems with Bangladesh’s water body management and drainage system and try to find solutions to such issues.

Even though Bangladesh is self-sufficient in food production, there remains a debate on whether proper nutrition is being ensured. Many

All associations and people who are working at the grassroots level for the rights of workers want to see workers in better conditions, whether that be at the workplace or outside of it.

For almost a decade, we have been celebrating the annual ‘World River Day’ on the last Sunday of September. One of the main reasons for this is to raise public awareness.

Maintaining standards for construction is a responsibility which is not easy to undertake yet is of great importance. The longevity of the structures should be prioritised when it comes to construction projects. Construction should have no option for compromise of standards. That way, public safety and interest can be safeguarded.

Bangladesh has made immense progress in digital payments over the last decade or so. From the demand side, about 7.7 percent of the population make payments using mobile wallets. Nonetheless, there is still room for growth. There are a lot of new opportunities in the horizon.

The existing policy framework and practices do not allow young people, particularly young women from excluded and marginalised communities, to engage and contribute meaningfully.

We are aware that the SME sector is going through a difficult phase due to the COVID-19 pandemic. According to the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics, there are about 78 lakh SMEs in Bangladesh, with 25 million workers working in the SME sector.

Many social protection programmes which are operating under different ministries need to be consolidated; otherwise, there will be multiplication of the same process.

Access to general and reproductive health services

The Daily Star in association with ActionAid Bangladesh organised an online discussion titled “Post-COVID-19 youth employment projection in Bangladesh” on July 19, 2020. Here we publish a summary of the discussion.

The Daily Star in association with Citizen’s Platform for SDGs and Plan International Bangladesh organised a virtual policy dialogue titled “Voluntary National Review 2020 and Youth Perspectives” on July 16, 2020. Here we publish a summary of the discussion.

The Daily Star in association with ActionAid Bangladesh organised an online discussion titled “Youth perspective on COVID-19 crisis in Bangladesh: Reflection on national budget 2020-21” on June 24, 2020. Here we publish a summary of the discussion.

In this discussion, we will try to determine where the urban health situation of Bangladesh currently stands in terms of the COVID-19 situation. We will refer to a rapid assessment on urban health situation in Gazipur, conducted by CARE Bangladesh.

Bangladesh’s construction sector is set to face challenging times because of the coronavirus pandemic as it would slow down the economy, disrupt development activities and put workers out of jobs.

The current situation of COVID-19 pandemic has caused most countries of the world to close their borders. The global supply chain has hence been severely impacted. Now, one main issue is the drastic decrease in remittance from our migrant workers, with a fall of USD 170 million.