On Thursday, July 24, 2025, at 3:30 PM, the inauguration ceremony of the 15th batch of the online certificate course on “Gender, Women’s Empowerment, and Development” was held, organized by the Central Training, Research, and Library Sub-Committee of Bangladesh Mahila Parishad (BMP).
The event was presided over by Dr. Fauzia Moslem, President of Bangladesh Mahila Parishad. Maleka Banu, General Secretary of the organization, delivered the welcome speech, while Shima Moslem, Joint General Secretary and Course Director, spoke about the course curriculum.
At the beginning of the ceremony, a one-minute silence was observed to honor the memory of the students who tragically lost their lives in the Milestone College plane crash and to express solidarity with their grieving families.
Maleka Banu stated that as an organization dedicated to securing women’s rights, Bangladesh Mahila Parishad has been working for decades to build an egalitarian and inclusive society, aligning with both global and national women’s movements. She expressed hope that the new generation of men and women would join this transformative process.
She highlighted that while society often normalizes women’s subordinate position in power structures, feminists, human rights activists, and women’s movement leaders challenge this inequality as a barrier to women’s human rights. The course aims to explore how social norms, laws, traditions, and religious misinterpretations perpetuate gender discrimination.
Maleka Banu emphasized that the facilitators—development workers, women’s rights activists, academics, and researchers—view their role not just as instructors but as a social responsibility. She urged participants to apply the theoretical knowledge gained from the course in their practical lives and to cultivate a curious mindset about gender issues.
Shima Moslem explained that Bangladesh Mahila Parishad, through its 55 years of activism, has observed that despite women’s contributions to development, discriminatory social attitudes persist due to gendered socialization. This results in women’s marginalization in power structures, where their participation is acknowledged but their leadership is often denied.
To counter this, the course integrates gender perspectives with Bangladesh’s socio-political context, combining theoretical lessons with group work, panel discussions, and field visits to foster participatory learning.
Dr. Fauzia Moslem, president of BMP emphasized that the course was designed to promote social change, support human rights movements, and benefit all stakeholders. She noted that the knowledge gained would help participants develop a gender-sensitive mindset and a clearer understanding of gender dynamics.
She acknowledged that while the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) recognize women’s development as integral to societal progress, recent attempts to curtail women’s rights pose new challenges. However, she expressed optimism that the growing social awareness would help counter these regressive forces and called on participants to strengthen the women’s movement.
Event Participation & Course Details:
• 31 trainees, along with central committee members, editors, and officials (total 52 attendees), participated in the inauguration.
• The event was moderated by Reena Ahmed, Secretary of the Training, Research, and Library Sub-Committee.
Course Features:
• Faculty: Includes academics from Dhaka University, Jahangirnagar University, and Rajshahi University, as well as economists, legal experts, human rights activists, and BMP leaders.
• Participants: Officials from government and non-government organizations, journalists, school/college teachers, trainers, researchers, and university students.
• Schedule: Classes will be held twice a week (Thursdays & Saturdays, 4:00 PM – 7:00 PM) over three months (July 24 – October 30, 2025).
This course continues BMP’s legacy of empowering individuals with gender-sensitive knowledge to drive social transformation.
