Hasina says education for all is part of vision for inclusive development

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has pledged to provide education for all -- the key to achieving the overarching vision of inclusive development in the light of sustainable development goals.

“We foresee a future where women and men work hand in hand for achieving human development,” Hasina said in her keynote speech on Tuesday to the Women’s Forum, one of the four forums organised as part of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in London.

The Women's Forum reflected on some of the global challenges still faced by women, as part of a wider commitment to "leave no one behind" in the Commonwealth journey to achieving gender equality by 2030.

Hasina shared with global leaders Bangladesh’s priority and commitment to ensure 12 years of quality education for girls and boys by 2030.

“We want to build a future where world peace and women empowerment remains the cornerstone to create a society free from poverty, discrimination and conflict,” she said.

“Our national plans and policies including the seventh five-year plan are geared towards that.”

The economic and political transformation of women is vividly evident in rural Bangladesh, Hasina said citing data from Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics.

As many as 20 million women are engaged in agriculture, industry and services sectors, she said. Eighty percent of about 4.5 million garment workers are women in a sector that accounts for 82 percent of exports.

The government has offered special facilities for women entrepreneurs and they receive collateral-free bank loans with only 5 percent service charge. Women are entitled to 10 percent of the SME fund and 10 percent industrial plots, Hasina said.

Hasina reached London to join global leaders at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting. She arrived at the Luton airport at 12.45am local time by a special flight provided by the Saudi government. 

Hasina was received by Neil Holland, director of protocol for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Shahriar Alam, state minister for foreign affairs, and Nazmul Quaunine, Bangladesh high commissioner to the UK. Foreign Minister AH Mahmood Ali travelled with Hasina from Saudi Arabia.

The prime minister went to London to attend the 25th Commonwealth conference invited by her British counterpart Theresa May.

Before travelling to London, Hasina attended the closing ceremony of a joint military exercise known as Gulf Shield-1 in Dammam on Apr 16.

Hasina will return to Dhaka on Apr 23, wrapping up her eight-day visit.