Role of women in nation building

Role of women in nation building

Introduction

"I raise up my voice—not so I can shout, but so that those without a voice can be heard...we cannot succeed when half of us are held back." ―Malala Yousafzai

As a vehicle cannot proceed with wheels on one side so a nation can never prosper without the contribution of its female population. To become a developed, well-civilized nation both men and women should come forward hand in hand and join the work force. our country Bangladesh, constitutionally known as "The People's Republic of Bangladesh", has a population of 15 crore 89 lakhs (according to Economic Review-2017) with a ratio of 100.3:100 between men and women. So to achieve the goal of "Vision 2021" both our men and women should be well-skilled and educated. However, we are hopeful that our female folk would prosper to its best as our government as well as our civil society has become very much concerned about the improvement of our female folk.

What is development?

Development is a very complicated term to define in a short description. According to the Business Dictionary, "The systemic use of scientific and technical knowledge to meet specific objectives or requirements." So to achieve development we have to make our people scientifically and technically skilled. Meanwhile according to Mahatma Gandhi, "Recognition of human potentials is development." Whereas in Economics, development means proper distribution of income. So ultimately the overall concept of development means the equal distribution of power, right and opportunity. 

Condition of women in primitive age

"The fight is not for women's status but for human worth. The claim is not to end inequality but to restore universal justice. the bid is not for loaves and fishes for the forsaken gender but for cosmic harmony, which never comes till woman comes." Dr. Bir Pal Singh. 

As we all are very well aware from the fact that, all over the world 50% of the population is constituted by woman. but in our country, there is decreasing ration of woman on the basis of sex selection abortion. The situation of decreasing sex ratio of male to female is the reason of unequal social status of woman with man. On the contrary, in western countries women are in reality equal to men. 

From the primitive time, women are facing discrimination in our society. They were deprived of education, recreation, participation in any kind of social activities and so on. Even they were not allowed to say something in the time of decision making for their own family. In that time women were not allowed to say whether they would like to be a mother or not. whereas they had to carry that child for ten long months in their womb. The male half used to dominate them in each and every sphere of their life. Most of the women had no chance to gain any sort of skill, education is far cry. From the cradle to the grave they were used by the males as a tool. They were married off even before their adolescence. They were forcefully impregnated by their husbands at an age which is hardly suitable to bear such a huge pressure both mentally and physically. 

"Shotidaho"- burning of a chaste wife on the funeral pile of her husband was the cruelest domination that our previous male generation had shown towards our females. But now time has changed with the help of enormous toil by some benign personalities. They are- Raja Rammohan Roy, Iswarchandra Bidyasagar, Nowab Foizunnesa, Begam Rokeya Sakhawat Hossen etc. 

Present condition of women

“Gems and jewels are priceless as they are rare. On that basis, women have a very low price as they are available today. Cost of water is very low although it is a must for daily life. If one day water becomes rare then even king of all kings will of course sacrifice his throne for a single drop of water. Like that if someday women become rare on this earth, that day we will understand what is the value of a woman in a family, society or state.” – Sharatchandra Chattapaddhay.

At present, women are getting their basic needs in most parts of our society. Although there are some exceptions. Government as well as many NGOs have taken several steps to make our rural illiterate guardians considerate, conscious and responsible to their daughters along with their sons. They are their best to make people know about the importance of female education. Government has made female education free up to higher secondary along with free books and scholarships. because of huge growth in  our garment sector a huge number women are now job-holder. Many women are engaged with teaching, nursing, entrepreneurship etc. Thus the female folk is now contributing to our economy at a larger scale than ever before. 

Role of women in development

Women stand as the base of the development process of a nation. If men are the wheels of a car, then women should be considered as the engine. We cannot think of any sphere in our life where we do not need the support of our females. Our life starts with seeing the smiling face of our loving mother, we grow up under her care, our middle age is carried away with the love of our wives, then one day we bite the dust seeing the crying face of our lovely daughters. So from the very beginning of our life to the very end we are totally dependent on the women of our family. Women play vital roles in every sectors of a nation. Some of them are noted in the following-

Role of women in education sector

According to Economic Review 2017 the literacy rate in our country is 63.6% ( above 7 years) which has become possible because of the increase in the literacy rate of our female folk. Now 61.6% of our women are literate with 65.6% literacy rate among the males. Napoleon Bonaparte said it right, "Give me an educated mother, I shall promise you the birth of a civilized, educated nation." Only an educated mother understands the importance of children's education. They give priority to the children's education over anything else. Moreover an educated mother herself can teach her children at least at the primary, secondary and higher secondary level. 

Teaching profession is very suitable for the women folk especially for primary education. Little infants find themselves a little bit more comfortable with a motherly face rather than any male person. This scenario is also very pellucid to our government so that they have created a quota system of 60% for female teacher in the primary level. 

Women are also helping us in the field of teaching music, dance, art etc. The cultural learning is basically aided by the women folk.

Role of women in our agricultural sector

Although we are living in an era of science and technology, our economy and socio-economic infrastructure is basically based our agricultural sector as most of the people in our country still lives in the rural area. And so government has already approved an enormous amount of taka 24,430 crore for the agriculture and fisheries sector in the budget of the fiscal year 2017-18.

In this vital sector women are playing a prime role. They take part in poultry rearing, dairy farming, fishing and also in cultivating rice, jute and so on. They are contributing almost 45% of agricultural labour both indoor and outdoor. In general our rural women cultivate vegetables, pot-herbs on the roof of their house or in the yard so that they can make up the food list of their family with the aid of those. Thus they safe money as well as fulfill the demand of nutrition of their family. They help our males by husking the rice, by planting seedlings, feeding the cattle, helping in poultry and so on. They make puffed rice, flattened rice etc. from normal rice. They play a huge role in collecting and storing harvests.  

Role of women in garment sector

Bangladesh's garment industry has been at the heart of the country's export boom ever since the first factory opened in 1976. In the fiscal year of 2016-17 RMG (Ready-made Garment) Industry has generated an amount of US $28.18 billion which is 80.7% of the total exports. Now there are almost 5000 garment factories in Bangladesh employing more than 3 million people. Fully 85% of them are women. 

Women are the driving force of the Bangladeshi Garment sector. Most of the women working in this sector is between 18 to 32 years. It is these young women who provide the hard labour needed to the unrealistic production targets set by Bangladeshi Garment Factories. 

Maximum of the female workers- almost 85% of the total workers are sewing operators, and nearly 10% are helpers. 

Although our garment industry is largely dependent on our female folk, it is a matter of great regret that our women are facing a great deal of discrimination in this sector. Not only they are ill-paid compared to the male workers but also they have to work harder and for longer duration of time. The garment factories violate rules and deprive the female workers of their rights.

Role of women in administrative sector

Women all over the world have come a long way from the dark period of their illiteracy and have joined almost each and every profession and have shown their proficiency. So why would they let go the attractive profession of administration and leadership? Nowadays women are joining politics more than ever before. On September 19, 1893 the Governor, Lord Glasgow, signed a new electoral act into law. As a result of this landmark legislation, New Zealand became the first self-governing country in the world in which all women had the right to vote in parliamentary elections. From then women have come a long way. Now women all over the world not only have the right to vote but also they can stand in elections to become a parliamentary member and to represent her country. 

At present, Denmark, Thailand, Germany, Argentina, Brazil, Australia, Liberia, Iceland, Costa Rica, Finland, Lithuania, Trinidad and Tobago and of course our motherland Bangladesh is going on under female leadership. 

Our country constitutionally has 50 preserved seats for female members. Our Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Speaker Shirin Sharmin Chowdhury, Member of Parliament Matiya Chowdhury, Sayada Sajeda Chowdhury, Tarana Halim, Rowshan Arshad are leading the leadership of our country from the front. For the first time we have got a female election comissioner, Kobita Khanam. 

In short, women are playing a massive role in the administrative process of Bangladesh. And for its better future our guardians have to change their outlook towards their children joining politics. 

Role of women in handicraft sector

Handicrafts are nowadays representing us to the outer world because of their beauty and uniqueness. WIPO (World Intellectual Property Organization) has recognised our "Jamdani Sharee" as a geological trademark product. From the time of Mughal emperors women in the rural areas have worked hard to show their creativity to others by making handicraft products, such as- Nakshi Kantha, Shitol Pati, toys, showpieces, terracotta designs, wooden products, buskets made of cane etc. Women work all the day and they are always with their house-hold chores. but even then they try to find some empty space to sit and work on a nakshi kantha. Their dedication is the reason that our handicraft is still alive and recognised all over the world. But it is a matter of regret that we are not getting a better price for this creative products. To encourage our women folk more about this sector we have to arrange some way that allows our women to get a perfect price of their hard labour and dedication. NGOs and financial organizations should be encouraged by our government so that they provide loans at a better scheme in our handicraft sector.

Role of women in nursing sector

From the time of mother Teresa or Florence Nightangle we see nursing profession as a very novel profession where philanthropy is considered prior to money. Most of the nurses all over the world are female and they are performing their duty with great care and affection towards each and every patient. 

For some instances female nurses are a must. Such as gynecology department and other feminine illness. As female patients feel comfortable in front of a female nurse. So to ensure proper treatment and care we have to ensure that female nurses are well paid and women are stilled encouraged to join this novel profession. 

Role of women in medical sector

Our medical sector is blessed with many promising doctors. A large number of them are female. They are contributing a great extent in this sector. In many of the medical colleges there are more female students compared to men. As our country is yet to become so open-minded as the western countries most of our female patients feel it comfortable and safe to discuss their health issues with a female doctor rather than a male doctor. Government is also concerned with this issue so they have taken necessary steps to establish health care centers in the rural sides of the country which will must have female doctors and nurses.

Role of women in defense sector

Ours is a nation full of bravery, courage and audacity. Our mothers, sisters have taught us this bravery from the very beginning of our life. For the defense of the nation women folk of this region took arms in their hand and joined the struggle against all heinous criminals and anti-socials. Bir protik Setara begum, Taramon Bibi were the light-bearer for the female folk in the time of our liberation war. Whereas this seed of fight was sown in them by their previous fighters- Ila Mitra, Pritilota Waddedar and so on. 

Today a huge number of girls are joining army to serve their country in times of crisis. They not only serve the country with arms but also helps the government to secure the country's peace and discipline. They also help delivering relief products in calamity-effected areas.

Role of women in sports

Today's world is not only about prospering in economic or technological field, here prosperity includes recreation at the same time. Sports are the finest source of recreation and our girls have contributed enough in this field to make our nation proud. Zobera Rahman Linu, famous table tennis player of Bangladesh, has got her name listed in the Guinness book of world records. Our female cricket team is at No. 9 in the ICC rankings. Except cricket we have national women's football team and kabaddi team. Most of our girls basically enjoy indoor games because of family restrictions and our social discriminations. We have broaden our outlook and allow our girls to join different sports according to their choice. Thus our female folk would be able to get some recreations as well as our country would be recognised worldwide by their achievements.

Role of women in cultural events

Bangladesh is a country blessed with various cultures and cultural events. This non-communal country is famous for its cultural events like 'Pahela Baishakh', 'Nobanno', 'Boli Khela', 'Madhu Mela on the birth of poet Madhusudhon' etc. All this programs become colourful because of the contribution of both male and female. Women take part in the cultural programs with songs, dances etc. By taking part in this events they unite our nation which is the basic principle of any nation.

Importance of women in different religion

In the Holy Quaran almighty Allah frequently addresses both the man and the woman. In one passage Allah reveals, "For Muslim men and women, for believing men and women, for devout men and women, for true men and women who is patient, for men and women who humble themselves, for men and women who give in charity, for men and women who fast, for men and women who guard their chastity, and for men and women who engage much in Allah's praise- For them all, Allah has prepared forgiveness and great reward." So there is no difference and discrimination between men and women according to Islam. Islam shows us the history of Hazrat Ayesha who fought her best to protect her nation. 

In Mahavarat we see Shikhondi, a woman, fighting in the kurukshetra war to represent her nation. In Hindu religion, we see the priority of women in many ways. We observe it mostly when we see at the hindu Goddess like- Durga, Kali, Sharaswati, Lakshmi and so on. This directly teaches us the lesson of respecting women. To motivate female education it is shown that Arundhuti, wife of saint boshistho, is a part of 'Saptarshi Mandal' because of her knowledge and wit. 

According to Bible."God is within her, she will not fall." So all religions have shown importance towards women and we should fall it.

Why women are backward in our country?

Women are backward due to unequal treatments in all sectors. Men and women, all the same, yet considered so much different. In our society we prioritize men in every possible way we can. It is not the case that each and every sector of family, society and state are only physical strength based. So we should change our point of view that makes us think that women cannot perform better or as much as men. 

From the primitive time, we have made up our mind on this basis that men are superior to women. Some male chauvinists do not even care about the basic right of women. Nowadays our culture is very much effected by the worst things of western cultures. the aftermath of this is some social crime, such as- eve-teasing, acid-throwing, rape, molestation etc. All of these makes the condition of women from bad to worse.

Another big problem in our country is misinterpretation of religion. As most of our rural people are illiterate and superstitious, it is easy for the hypocrites to persuade people anything they want. They use religion as a way to income. For this reason they always discourage everyone about literacy, especially female education.

We are living in 2018, still the literacy rate in our country is below 70%, which is the prime reason behind most of the problems in our country. Because of illiteracy our guardians do not find it necessary to bring their daughter in the economic activities.

Male domination is one of the most pathetic thing that happens to girl's life. Due to male chauvinism guardians of a daughter starts to think a daughter as a liability as they have to pay a high margin of dowry in time of marriage of this daughter. Eve-teasing, acid-throwing are some aftermaths of male domination in the society. 

Various NGOs and Financial Organizations often do not feel interested in granting loans to women, mostly because of the reason that women do not get family support to show any sort of guarantee against the loan.

According to Begam Rokeya Sakhawat hosen, "It is women who are mainly responsible for their backwardness. It is women's mentality that worsens their condition." To develop their condition women have to break the shackle and come out to feel the realm of the outer world. 

What we should do for our women

We all have some responsibility to maintain from our own place to make our female folk developed. They steps that can be taken are as follows-

• At first we can make people aware of the facts that can happen with the aid of women empowerment in our country. 
• Government should run campaigns to check why the literacy rate of women is still low and how to solve this problem.
• NGOs should be more concerned about women empowerment and grant them loans with less complicated terms and conditions.
• Projects should be launched aiming at training women on artisanship so that they get skilled in a proper way which skill can be used for their own welfare as well as national welfare.
• An international marketing sector should be introduced to our rural women so that they can sell their handicraft products at a better price.
• We can apply quota system for females which is in practice for some government jobs so that we can ensure female employment.
• We have to change our outlook of considering women as a product or a tool for producing children and start considering them as our friends.
• To make people aware about the importance of women we can make videos, documentaries etc. and make people aware.

Steps taken for women internationally

Internationally various steps have been taken for the development of women. The United Nation's Development Fund for Women (commonly known as UNIFEM) is such an organisation that provides financial and technical assistance to assure women's human rights. It was established in 1976 to promote political participation and economic security. 

Another International organisation that works for women empowerment is The United Nation's Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women. 

To celebrate women's achievements in social, economic, cultural and political sectors people all over the world celebrate March 8th as the International Women's Day. 

Some other organizations that work for the betterment of the female folk are: Equality Now, International Council of Women, International Alliance of Women, International Alliance for Women and so on.

Conclusion

Under the circumstances furnished in our society and state, government should pass necessary charges and grant necessary orders to extenuate the anguished conditions that our women are facing in their day to day life. We all have to come forward to save our sisters, to respect our mothers, to provide affection to our wives and to ensure safety to our daughters so that they can let their dreams come true. And then our utopian schemes of making an ever-smiling earth will come to reality.