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Tuesday, April 23, 2024
News and Views from the Global South
Women’s Leadership Breathes New Life into Bangladesh
Monashatoli, a small coastal village of 5,000 residents in Bangladesh’s southwestern Barguna district, located about 470 kilometres south of the capital Dhaka, is a living model of the success of bottom-up community development.
Poverty Plagues Children in Bangladesh
Nearly 50 percent of Bangladesh’s primary school students drop out before they complete fifth grade, as crushing poverty drives them into the informal employment sector.
Forests, Fruit and Fish Could Save Coastal Communities
Scientists predict that in the coming years, Bangladesh will be battered by even more climate disasters than it has already endured. Global warming has caused devastating damage in this lower Himalayan delta country of 150 million people, where seawater intrusion, increasingly intense cyclones, dried up rivers and extreme weather events have become the norm.
First Burning Homes, Now Border Patrols
In late August, Mohammad Saifuddin (not his real name), together with his wife, three daughters and son, fled the carnage of communal violence in western Myanmar’s Rakhine province and headed for the border of neighbouring Bangladesh.
Bangladesh Eyes Drug Export Market
Bangladesh has begun to shed its image as one of the world’s poorest nations and make a reputation for itself as a major exporter of cheap generic drugs to over 85 countries.
‘Breastfeeding Best for Bangladesh’
Bangladesh’s achievement in raising exclusive breastfeeding rates for infants under six months from 43 percent to 64 percent, over the last five years, is said to be the result of a determined campaign by government and non-governmental organisations (NGOs).
Violence Against Women Persists in Bangladesh
Bangladesh, often cited as a model of progress in achieving the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), appears to be sliding backwards when it comes to dealing with violence against women (VAW).
Farming in Bangladesh Stays Afloat – Literally
With the rains over Gopalganj district intensifying each year and much of Baikantapur village permanently waterlogged, Bijoy Kumar Sen had little choice but to abandon traditional rice farming and grow vegetables on bairas – floating islands built of straw and aquatic plants.
Bangladesh ‘Fixes’ Grameen Microcredit
Laboni Vhoumik’s lingerie manufacturing unit in the Gopai village of Noakhali district, about 180 km outside the capital, is a forceful argument in favour of the Grameen Bank microcredit model that fosters female entrepreneurship and also relies on it.Locals Urge Fresh Negotiations on Padma Bridge Funding
Amidst continuing controversy over the World Bank’s recent decision to cancel a 1.2 billion-dollar loan to Bangladesh to assist in the construction of the Padma Bridge – which would have been the country’s largest ever development project, worth 2.9 billion dollars – most locals have expressed deep concern about the impact of such a move on one of the world’s least developed countries.
Green Bricks Pave Future for Female Workers
At first glance the smart young women in white overcoats, black rubber boots and protective face masks seem out of place in impoverished Bangladesh’s dirtiest industry – brick making.
Bangladesh on the Green Brick Road
Bangladesh, a country highly vulnerable to climate change, is doing its bit to reduce greenhouse gas (GhG) emissions and glacier-melting soot by switching to ‘smokeless’ brick-making technology.
Bangladesh Braces for HIV Epidemic
Bangladesh has shown low HIV prevalence rates so far but may be silently moving towards an epidemic, say experts pointing to underreporting and poor monitoring for the virus in the general population.
Bangladesh Set to Take the Reins at Rio+20
Experts believe that the upcoming United Nations Earth Summit, Rio+ 20, scheduled to take place in Brazil from Jun.20-22, could be a real opportunity for Bangladesh to negotiate a road to sustainable development.
Bangladesh Scores on Girls’ Schooling
Bangladesh continues to score good grades in achieving the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) of gender parity in education by 2015, with the trend of more girls than boys attending primary school accelerating this year.
Bangladesh Cuts Maternal Deaths With Affordability
The Aditmari Maternity Centre (AMC) is unpretentious but hygienic, and its staff of paramedics welcomes pregnant women from the poor farming villages of this district, 375 km northwest of Dhaka.
Women Lead Poverty Reduction in Bangladesh
Kalpana Rani Pal’s pottery business is modest by any yardstick but it is small enterprises like these that are helping reduce poverty levels in Bangladesh.
Bangladesh Braves Climate Change With Community Radio
"Welcome to Krishi (farming) Radio. You are listening to FM 98.8 megahertz and I am your hostess Shahnaz Parvin," the local community radio crackles over the mobile phones and transistors of residents in coastal Barguna district.BANGLADESH: Coup Bid Reveals Extremism Within Army
Bangladesh’s army has won paludits as leading United Nations peacekeepers, but the January coup attempt against Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s government has exposed lurking religious extremism within its ranks.BANGLADESH: Farmers Bet on Climate-Proof Crops
With floods, droughts and other calamities battering deltaic Bangladesh regularly, farmers need little prompting in switching to climate-resistant varieties of rice, wheat, pulses and other staples.
BANGLADESH: Lighting up on Solar Power
The sun never shone brighter on rural Bangladesh with low power solar systems transforming the lives of tens of millions of marginalised rural people who are unconnected to the national grid.« Previous Page — Next Page »
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