World Population Day is observed on July 11 every year. To mark the occasion, a roundtable discussion titled on this year鈥檚 theme 鈥渆mpowering young people to create the families they want in a fair and hopeful world,鈥� was held on July 8 at the office of Ajker Patrika in Dhaka. The roundtable was jointly organized by Population Services and Training Center (PSTC), a non-government not for profit voluntary organization working on population, International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) which is an international non-government organization focused on sexual and reproductive health and rights, English daily 抖阴精品 and Bengali daily Ajker Patrika.听
Bangladesh has made a lot of progress. If we think about the world鈥檚 average life expectancy for men which is 71 years, in Bangladesh it is 74 years, the highest in the world. If we think about the average life expectancy of women around the world, it is 74. It is 76 years in Bangladesh. So, we have made progress. If our country has a population of 170 million or 180 million, 90 million are women. Until now, adolescents were 20 percent. Now it has decreased a little to 19 percent. Even so, the number of people in this age group is currently about 35 million. The definition of youth in Bangladesh is a little different. In our country it is the population between 18 to 35 years. But according to the United Nations, people between 15 and 24 years of age are considered as youths. If we think of 鈥榓dolescent and youth鈥� together, we call it 鈥榶oung people鈥�, that young population makes up one-third of our country. This makes us understand the importance of the young population. In a country where the young population is so large, I don鈥檛 think we can move any forward excluding them in our plans or policies. In a climate vulnerable situation our boys and girls, due to 鈥榰ncertainty of parenthood鈥�, are either marrying early or postponing their marriages. We need to think more deeply about the issue of family formation centered around them. We need to take it further.
Climate change is the sign of a terrible danger for the reproductive health of teenage girls in our Southwest. For future health it will be a bad thing. How much capacity do young people in Bangladesh have in choosing a partner? We still try to agree with the family鈥檚 decision. We may prepare everything and take it to them. They make the decision by saying 鈥榶es鈥� or 鈥榥o.鈥� It begins with the choosing of partner. Then marriage, and when to have children. These issues of empowerment come up. When to have children? How many children will I have? How many years of gap would there be between two children?
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The guidance on all these issues come from the members of the family to whom we ask for the decision on the first day. Knowledge, skills, rights and opportunities鈥攖hese are empowerments. If all these are provided to a teenager, will he or she become powerful? In our Bangladesh, there are some cultural barriers. We need to shed light on that. Patriarchy has not changed yet. If we address only the young people but not the seniors in the families who make decisions, young people won鈥檛 be empowered how much we try. So, in addressing we have to include the seniors. Otherwise, it seems like an isolated incident and the government鈥檚 current efforts to prevent child marriage will not be successful in achieving the relevant SDG goals. It can be achieved if the efforts are 17 times more. To make it easier, the government is considering reducing it to a tolerable level by 2041. Even if that is to be achieved, the current project will have to be increased 8 times. You can understand how important the issue of child marriage is and how much we are lagging behind.
We have achieved a lot. But in my 15-16 years of work experience I will say that there is dissatisfaction. We have done so much, but how sustainable is it? Adolescence Corner has been mentioned. It has been included in the operation plan of the Health Department. The government is supposed to do everything itself. Teenagers will have the opportunity to learn about reproductive health. There are questions about the quality of government services, but they will get it. At least they will be able to go to one place when needed. The current health projects are completely different. The way the donor community had worked with the government to take the efforts to a certain stage, now I don鈥檛 find that vision of the government. I鈥檓 kind of disappointed. So, there鈥檚 still a lot of work to do. There are always good policies drawn in Bangladesh. But our policies lack interrelationships. First of all, we sign the international convention but when the local policies are made there remains a gap. The local policies are to be drawn up in relation to what we sign. We are unable to make it to that point. In Bangladesh there are many problems in terms of policy implementation. We finalize a policy and then draw an action plan. After everything is done there is a change in the regime. Even if the policies that have been drawn up can be implemented, significant progress can be made. After 2024, we are seeing a changed scenario in Bangladesh. We think that those of us who are now representing the government want change in Bangladesh, want Bangladesh to move forward. There, the participation of everyone, especially the participation of the young people, must be ensured. Because they are the future of the country.
How can youth empowerment be achieved if the voices of the youth are not heard? We often see that in important issues like family planning or health policies youth participation is ignored. It is often seen that the old policy makers think they understand the matters of youth better. They measure our reality with their own experiences. However, they need to understand that time has changed. Today鈥檚 generation is growing up differently. Their social thinking, their interaction with technology, everything is different. We have now learned to ask questions. We have learned to express our opinions. If our opinions are not heard, then there is a problem. I think that our participation should be made mandatory in policies that impact our lives. Youth participation must be ensured in all policy-making processes. It should not be only for the sake of participation but should be given importance in policy making. Young people, not only from the cities but also from the grassroots level, should be included. A friendly and safe healthcare must be ensured understanding the reality, age and the context of young people.
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About a third of our population is young. About 55 million are young people. However, considering the age group, the definition of youth in Bangladesh is different from what it is internationally. In some places youth means 25 years old while in some places those up to 35 years old are considered as youth. We have to keep this difference in our minds. I think the young generation is a big controlling force. They can control society. They can also solve various problems in society. If we cannot keep this force in the right direction, if we cannot properly guide them, then chances remain of them being misled.
We are actually unable to break the social taboos. It is affecting the way of life of the new generation. We are talking about the adolescent corner, but it is limited compared to the need. There are so many garment workers. Are those working in factories or those studying in schools or colleges able to go to the service center while they are open? By the time they are free, the service centers are closed. We also need to see whether our service centers are ready to serve young people. We are trying. We should not be frustrated. But we need to go a long way. This effort is necessary.
Violence, child marriage, early pregnancy are linked to each other. There are many factors behind this. If we want to change this, there is no alternative to the empowerment of young people. However, the empowerment of youth alone cannot change it. There are many other things involved with it which we need to work along. There is a lot of difference between the scenario 20 years ago and today. The young people were not there on various platforms, but they are there now. The question is, can they reach the policy-making level? They too should be given information. When they will represent, decision making will be much stronger.
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We often talk about youth empowerment or meaningful participation of youth. Nowadays, almost every NGO, INGO has groups of young volunteers or youth forums. But my question is, how meaningful is this participation for the youth? Are the young people really involved in the decision-making process? Are they part of it or are they just being included for namesake? Sometimes participation seems like 鈥榯okenism.鈥� They always have the opportunity to participate but they don鈥檛 have the scope to speak. Even if they get the opportunity to speak, they don鈥檛 have the power to make decisions. Now, the decisions in youth forums are taken by seniors. The job of young people is limited to just collaborating or representing.
We have been working with sex workers and drug users for 20 to 25 years. The two areas have two types of challenges. If we talk about sex workers, they enter into sexual life at a very young age, most of the time unwillingly. Due to various social circumstances, they are far away from these health services. For example, there was a time when they couldn鈥檛 wear sandals. It was a social taboo that they cannot wear sandals. That has changed. How is their sex life? Actually, even they cannot determine this because they have to provide services according to their client鈥檚 demand. Many clients don鈥檛 even want to wear condoms. If we call it a profession, then their right to make decisions in the profession or their security capabilities have not evolved in Bangladesh.听 In the case of drug addicts, the state looks upon it as a crime. Those involved in this crime are deprived of the opportunities of healing.听 A survey carried out by the Department of Narcotics Control revealed that there are nearly 10 million drug addicts in the country. I don鈥檛 think that we have this huge population considered in any planning. It will create a terrible economic or social disaster if the state does not come to a decision.听
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When we started working in the 1990s, the environment was not there to openly discuss the issues of sexual and reproductive health. As a citizen of Bangladesh, I want our children to receive all kinds of help and support. They should also be properly informed about sexual and reproductive health and rights. If the family鈥檚 financial situation is not good, it is not possible to do many things. A lot happens at the policy-making level, but how much of it reaches the grassroots is also a concern. Through a CWFD program, we provide sanitary napkins. We don鈥檛 just provide them to teenagers; we also give them to their mothers. We are renovating the school toilets. But all these are just pilot or experimental projects. Only a handful of girls from a few areas are getting to know about these things. Some others come to know through them. But if it was done through the government, it could have been reached to many more people.
Most of the work in Bangladesh is project-based. No project, no work. The young population can be called the power of the globe. Now the question is, how will the power be used? Whether its positive side will be used or its bad side? If a force goes in the wrong direction, it can destroy everything. And if its good side is used, it can help build a new world. In our country, 77 percent of women cannot make their decision themselves regarding having children. Only 23 per cent can have children according to their own decision. One in three mothers suffers from an unwanted pregnancy. We invested billions of dollars in so many years, but where are we getting the sustained impact of this investment? Progress on this issue is not possible without the government鈥檚 political commitment because NGOs cannot do it. NGOs exist today; they may not be there tomorrow. Because they can work when they get funds, otherwise not. We also need to look at the issue of 鈥榬eturn of investment.鈥� If we have, so far, invested one dollar in the SRHR (sexual and reproductive health and rights) sector in Bangladesh, how much did we get in return? Or was it a waste? If we see that we have not received even half a dollar in return on one dollar investment, then it is wastage. If we get one-an-a-half dollars in return against an investment of one dollar in education, knowledge, health or reproductive health, we will say that it is a good sign.听听
We do a lot of interventions. But we need to see whether they are being done properly or not.
For example, we work with teenaged girls to prevent child marriage or early pregnancy. This makes it seem like the responsibility to prevent child marriage or early pregnancy is only on them. When we are educating teenage girls, we are only giving them the knowledge. They are only taught about it. But the girl is not taught how to convince her parents in stopping child marriage. That鈥檚 why they are never able to explain it to their parents. Focus should be given on their negotiation skills. Young girls should not be the only ones to be involved with SRHR (sexual and reproductive health and rights) issues. The boys should also be informed about these issues.
The world鈥檚 current population is 8.1 billion. Of this, the number of young population is 1.8 billion. That is a huge population and most of them live in developing countries. In case of extramarital sex, the contraceptive prevalence rate (CPR) is very low in these countries. For this reason, unintended pregnancies are very high in our country. And because of this, many are affected with HIV. Girls have come a long way, but the child marriage rate is still high. Nearly 50 per cent of the girls are married before the age of 15. This is due to social reasons. Our maternal mortality rate has come down a lot. But are we on track in achieving the SDG (Sustainable Development Goals) 2030? I think we can鈥檛 do it.
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It is not possible to build a healthy family without empowering the youth. According to the National Survey data, 64 percent of teenage girls did not know anything about periods before their first menstruation. About 50 percent of teenage girls still use dirty cloth during menstruation. Nearly 47 percent of teenage girls are still kept away from religious activities during their periods. In our country, talking about sexual health is more difficult than talking about menstrual hygiene. This stagnation cannot be allowed to continue. The inability to break this stagnation is shameful. I see young people as changemakers. Empowering them is important. Behavioral changes must come. Knowledge alone is not everything.
Learning to ask questions is very important. When young people learn to ask questions, they will themselves be able to solve their problems to some extent. Youths are the future leaders. So, what kind of leadership will we create? They will be coming out of this society and this state. If their health, education, right to information, are all only project-based, there remains a concern about whether they will be sustainable. Youths from cities as well as towns need to be paid attention to. Changes should be made considering the social context. Change is not possible without change in society as a whole. This society does not mean only Dhaka. It has to be inclusive. For example, the marginalized communities. Their health, food, everything needs to be included.
In our society, the government determines that a girl gets matured when she is 18 years old. But according to our context, a girl is matured as soon as her periods begin. She can be married off. Many are dropping out of school and getting married as a child due to their menstruation. Still, most of the girls cannot make their own decision whether or not to have children. That is why there are a lot of maternal deaths and mothers suffering from physical complications. SRHR (Sexual and reproductive health and rights) is one of my rights. This right is constantly being taken away. Every young person should keep in mind that my family is my choice. If I can build a family of my choice, then I can change my life.
World Population Day is observed every year on July 11. It first started in 1989 at the initiative of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP). Since then, the observance of the day has been coordinated by the United Nations Population Fund. The objective is to raise global awareness on population related issues and developments, health, and human rights. The current world population is 8.1 billion, half of whom are under the age of thirty. If we look at the context of Bangladesh, the number of people between the ages of 10 and 14 in Bangladesh is 28 percent. However, despite the potential to take advantage of this demographic, challenges remain in terms of the present younger generation鈥檚 family planning, and access to public health services.
We are talking about empowering young people. Information is a great power in empowering and for decision-making. Gender-based violence takes many forms, occurs in many areas, and happens at various levels. These are due to the lack of up-to-date information among young people. Violence is happening due to various types of false temptations or abuse of power. Power is being abused in workplaces. Violence in the streets is rooted in mindset. Women are seen as consumable objects. We want to come out of these situations. To reduce violence, young people need to be given the right information. We have to think about how to deal with this. It can be educating a bad touch and good touches from the beginning, informing the children about the different parts of the body from an early age.
The power of youth in general will only come when all types of young people, particularly those with specials needs, are included in the mainstream. When we go to work in the field, we see people with special needs neglected in their health care. Despite their desire, we cannot guarantee their physical participation. This is not only a development challenge but also a human rights violation. That is why I call upon all to ensure physical access to health services and information for all young people with special needs so that no one falls behind due to gender discrimination or social identity.
