Reducing child marriage vital to reduce adolescent fertility

Active participation of women in family planning activities is key to resolving the population problem of Bangladesh, a roundtable was told on Saturday.

Such an approach will help the country attain UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), the discussants said at the roundtable organised by Prothom Alo in association with UNFPA, Global Affairs Canada and RTM International.

They stressed that reducing child marriage is an imperative to rein in the country's population problem.

State minister for health and family welfare Zahid Maleque said child marriage is still 'a very big challenge' for the country.

He also lamented the lack of trained manpower in family planning department for making relevant programmes effective.

“We've made a lot of progress in infrastructure development in the health sector, but lack of manpower was our biggest setback,” he added.

He, however, said that the government is going to recruit eight thousand family planning field workers soon.

Fazilatunnesa Bappi MP urged the family planning department officials to extend their services to the women of remote hill and haor areas.

Director general of family planning department Kazi Mustafa Sarwar said mortality rate of pregnant women is higher in the case of child marriage.

He said the department is working to engage Imams (religious leaders( and religious clerics in family planning activities in the areas such as Chattogram and Sylhet, where population problem is still unchecked.

Waseqa Ayesha Khan MP also emphasised involvement of religious clerics in family planning to root out any superstitions.

UNFPA Bangladesh’s chief of health Sathya Doraiswamy praised Bangladesh’s success in family planning but urged for new tools and methods in this regard.

“In the process of family planning, we have to put the customers in the centre, it’s all important,” he added.

Chairman of department of population science of Dhaka University Md Aminul Haq, director of family planning department Ashrafunnesa, FP 2020’s Abu Jamil Faisal, actress Moushumi, programme manager at Population Council Masuma Billah, SERAC-Bangladesh’s associate programme officer Tasnia Ahmed, and student of Dhaka Nursing College Asma Akhter also attended the roundtable.

Prothom Alo’s associate editor Abdul Quayum and advisor Gawher Nayeem Wahra jointly moderated the session held at the daily's Karwan Bazar office