News Desk : dhakamirror.com
Knowledge sharing event on child marriage during the Covid pandemic and menstrual health management in urban slums, organised by UNFPA was held on Sunday.
UNFPA arranged the programme to disseminate and discuss the findings of the two studies — one to shed light on the situation of child marriage during covid-19 and the other on menstrual hygiene management of women and adolescent girls in urban slums — recently conducted with a view to further investment in research and programming.
Md Hasanuzzaman Kallol, Secretary, Ministry of Women and Children Affairs, was present there as chief guest while Farida Pervin, director general, Department of Women Affairs was special guest.
Syed Md Golam Faruk, a former director general of the Directorate of Secondary and Higher Education was key discussant, said a press release.
Masaki Watabe, deputy representative of UNFPA Bangladesh, also spoke to the event on behalf of UNFPA. Officials from the Ministry of Women and Children Affairs, Department of Women Affairs, Directorate of Secondary and Higher Education,
National Curriculum and Textbook Board and representative from INGOs, development partners, UN agencies and local NGOs, academicians and members from civil societies, students were also present at the event.
The study finds that child marriage was lower than projected during the pandemic. Findings from MHM Study show that access to technology and the internet is enabling women and adolescent girls to access information about menstruation,
yet among all age groups, there are important knowledge gaps on the negative consequences that inadequate menstrual hygiene can have on their health and wellbeing.
Access to toilets where women and adolescent girls can manage their menstruation with privacy was reported as the major challenge.
