Dhaka seeks global role to ensure women's meaningful participation in building, sustaining peace

Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen has urged the international community to renew its commitments towards working together to ensure full, equal, and meaningful participation of women in building and sustaining peace.

“In the post conflict and humanitarian settings, efforts must be made for ensuring a gender-responsive approach recognising women’s increased role in recovery and rebuilding efforts,” he said.

The foreign minister was addressing a high-level international conference on "Women, Peace and Security (WPS)" organised by the government of Vietnam with the support of the United Nations on Monday.

Recognising the role of women in our Liberation War, the foreign minister said women have not only been victims of war but they also actively participated in the War of Liberation in 1971.

He emphasised that the government has prioritised women empowerment through education and integrating them into economic activities and thereby enabling them to perform non-traditional roles beyond their households.  

Highlighting Bangladesh’s tremendous development in women empowerment, the foreign minister said immediately after independence, Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman placed women at the heart of the country’s development agenda.

“Women in Bangladesh are now active agents of our socio-economic changes and development initiatives."

Dr Momen maintained that Bangladesh recognises women's role in influencing community and family values and identifying early signs of radicalisation and encourages their leadership at the community, national, and international levels.

In order to strengthen women’s role in building and sustaining peace, the foreign minister urged UN agencies and international partners to support governments in their women’s development and empowerment efforts. He also stressed on the importance of increasing women’s participation in peacekeeping. 

To advance the WPS agenda, the foreign minister mentioned six specific points that underscored, among others, women’s meaningful participation through education and training, ensuring justice and accountability for conflict-related violence on women, mainstreaming gender perspective in peacekeeping missions and increased and sustainable provisions of funding for effective implementation of WPS agenda. 

The conference was attended by high-level delegations from UN member states and major peacekeeping nations.