Thousands extreme poor families observed IWD with support Shiree project
All around the world, International Women’s Day represents an opportunity to celebrate the achievements of women while calling for greater equality. Make It Happen is this year’s theme for the day, encouraging effective action for advancing and recognising the positive and crucial role of women in balanced development.
The EEP/Shiree project, which works with the extreme poor under the supervision of RDCD of LGRD Ministry, and with the support of UK aid’s DFID and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), organized countrywide special courtyard sessions to spread the message on the urgent need for women’s empowerment.
At 11 o’clock today 2,000 Community Pusti Karmis (CPKs) of 14 partner NGOs conducted special courtyard sessions with about 35,000 extreme poor beneficiaries in 85 Upazilas of 22 Districts. The aim was reinforce messages associated with the International Women’s Day 2015.
EEP/Shiree supports more than 1 million people take enduring steps out of extreme poverty. In trying to halt the inter-generational transfer of poverty, the EEP/Shiree targets women in extreme poor households to help improve their nutritional status along with livelihood support.
In addressing the scourge of malnutrition, EEP/Shiree works with poor people to improve nutrition and to understand what makes for a better diet. Households are made aware of the issues by Community Pusti Karmi) marked International Women’s Day by bringing the issues into greater focus. In Bangladesh, women are often undernourished and suffer from multiple nutrition related problems.
A high proportion of women (15%) are below the critical height of 145 centimetres. The B- D- H- S- 2007 survey data indicated that, 30% of women have a Body Mass Index (BMI) less than 18.5 (the cut-off for chronic energy deficiency). About 10% of women suffer from more serious under-nutrition with a BMI of less than 17.
An EEP/Shiree produced infographic to be used by the Community Pusti Karmis in their courtyard meetings to incorporate the message associated with the themes of the International Women’s Day 2015. The flyer contains information related health care, strategies to improve maternal and child health, reasons not to drop out from school. The Community Pusti Karmis conveyed these messages to female household members.
