Women's empowerment requires family engagement along with training: State Minister Bobby Hajjaj
Staff Correspondent
State Minister for Primary and Mass Education Bobby Hajjaj stressed that ensuring sustainable empowerment for women requires not just technical training and job opportunities, but also personal confidence, communication skills, legal awareness, and a shift in familial and social mindsets.
The State Minister made these observations while speaking as the chief guest at the closing ceremony of the "Her Skills, Her Future" project, jointly implemented by the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) and UNICEF, held at the Hotel Sheraton in Banani, Dhaka, on Monday.
The primary objective of the project was to render out-of-school adolescent girls and young women self-reliant through market-driven vocational training, life-skills development, and employment creation.
The State Minister noted that empowerment initiatives for out-of-school girls must align with Bangladesh's socio-economic realities, emphasizing that women cannot be viewed in isolation from their families.
Highlighting measures to combat child marriage, the State Minister observed that economic uncertainty and social pressures often drive early marriage.
Chaired by Deepa Sankar, Chief of Education at UNICEF Bangladesh, the event featured Interim Representative of UNICEF Bangladesh Jillian Mellsop and KOICA Bangladesh Country Director Jihoon Kim as special guests. Senior officials from the Ministry of Primary and Mass Education and the Bureau of Non-Formal Education were also present.
