Combatting Climate Change: You 2 Can Contribute!!!

“Well, I am just a theatre graduate. How can I change the world, let alone the climate?” asks my friend, Nabila.

The experts in the fields are trying everything from developing climate change resilient crops starting from salt-tolerant, drought tolerant, and even flood-tolerant rice, to developing low carbon emission and more fuel efficient technologies, low cost solar panels, and even energy saving bulbs.

But is that enough?

While the efforts of the scientific and research community are laudatory, the fight against climate change needs a holistic approach that involves not only scientists and engineers but the combined effort of all at large.

Action can take the form of a street drama or an artist’s comic strip, a mobile phone game by a computer scientist, or even a billboard designed by an ad agency developed to bring about behavior change in the community towards climate change and environmental awareness.

It might involve a training for rescue operators for disaster preparedness given by a community worker or a trainer; and safety net programmes for crop insurance or microfinance.

It could involve income-generating training for climate change victims by an economist or some development practitioner. There is a role that any type of entity, organisation. Any of us from any discipline can play a role in the fight against climate change if we choose to, starting from prevention and preparedness to action when needed.

Act before it’s too late! The clock is ticking.

And don’t forget, that you don’t have to wait for others or even a big funding to help change the world. You can start right at home. Turn off the lights and tap water when not in use; recycle; don’t litter; and most importantly, “Don’t forget to plant a tree”.

And of course, if you have some money to spare, donate to a climate change or environmental fund instead of buying that much adorable T-Shirt perhaps. After all, we must be the change we wish to see in the world.

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Published: YourCommonwealth, 2 March, 2011

The Truth About Cats and Dogs

I have always considered myself eloquent, excellent in English, very knowledgeable about worldly affairs, and very logical when it comes to arguments.

Full of pride, I thought I had everything I needed to be a debater. Well, the truth is, the first time I debated competitively, English seemed like Chinese, not to mention the fact that I forgot what the motion was.

The embarrassing and excruciatingly long and unusually heavy 2 minutes ended abruptly when I realized I still had 5 more minutes of speaking time I needed to fill and I had absolutely nothing to say. I hid my head in shame as the opponents came, mocked me and tore me to pieces.

I suppose there is a first time for everything.

When I look back at this past, not so long ago, I reminisce with a different kind of pride – pride over the fact that I have finally learnt to treat debate with amusement and confidence. On the other hand, it has definitely taught me to be humble.

Some people see the great debaters get mesmerized by their charms, and think debating is really easy. Others get intimidated and back off as they think it’s only for the highly skilled and knowledgeable. I would say every one has the potential to be a great debater at heart.

To me, debating is a fun learning process that can be thought provoking and challenging at times. It teaches one to be a good speaker and appreciate other points of views. It even teaches one to be really creative especially when one has no pre-knowledge about the motion in hand.

It’s a great way to learn to apply knowledge, logic, as well as common sense. On the other hand, there is no better self-esteem booster than when you find an effective rebuttal or even better when you win an argument and laugh at the sound of your opponents crumble.

However you may look at it, one thing for sure is, once you start debating, there is no going back… ’cause, after all, it is one of the most fun, competitive and of course addictive sports around.

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Published: YourCommonwealth, 10 May, 2011

State of Women's Inheritance in Bangladesh

Recently, there was much hullabaloo about the National Women Development Policy 2011 which supposedly would change the status of women’s inheritance in the country. Unfortunately a closer inspection of the National Women Development Policy 2011 sadly does not say anything about the equal distribution of inherited property.

While Bangladesh is a signatory to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), it has reservations on Article 13 (a) of the convention which grants equality to women regarding the right to family benefits. In Bangladesh, inheritance is governed by a person’s religion, which has left much of the inheritance process of women unequal and discriminatory. This has raised the need for a uniform and secular family code to deal not only with the inheritance issue, but with issues such as marriage, divorce, and guardianship as well. A comparative analysis of a few crucial current women’s inheritance rights laws in Bangladesh is presented below:

In Bangladesh, under the Muslim law, the wife inherits a fixed share of one-eighth of the deceased husband’s property if he leaves children, whereas the husband receives one fourth of his deceased wife’s property. If he does not leave any children, then the wife inherits a quarter of the husband’s estate. A daughter, who is an only child, inherits half the estate of her late father or mother. If there is more than one daughter and no son, then the daughters jointly inherit two-thirds of the estate. However, if there is a son, then the daughter’s share will be equal to half of the son’s share. In all cases, men inherit more than the women do.

On the other hand, among the Hindus a large number of women are also excluded from inheritance. According to Hindu personal laws, not all daughters of a man are equally eligible to inherit. Unmarried daughters and married daughters with sons can inherit. Childless widowed daughters or daughters having no son are excluded from inheritance. A Hindu woman, even if she inherits has limited rights to her property in the form of life interest i.e. on her death, the property reverts back to the next heir of the person she had inherited the property from. Widows inheriting properties from her husband also inherits on limited rights i.e. life interest. The Buddhists in Bangladesh are also governed by Hindu laws in Bangladesh.

Inheritance is not only a matter of human rights, it adversely affects women’s economic and financial conditions, the situation makes it especially worst for female headed households in Bangladesh. While the constitution says that it shall not discriminate against any citizen on grounds of religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth, it only guarantees equal rights of women with men in all spheres of the state and of public life, which leaves the women vulnerable regarding her rights in private and family life. Equal rights of women in all spheres in Bangladesh is not only a question of women’s development, it is a fundamental human right that is yet to be guaranteed by the state.

While some progressive provisions have been made by the current government towards enacting laws for women’s rights in Bangladesh, many issues still remain unaddressed. While the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2009 has made amendments to the Citizenship Act, 1951 to make provisions to grant Bangladeshi citizenship rights to children of Bangladeshi women by descent, foreigner husbands of Bangladeshi women are still not eligible for Bangladeshi citizenship, while Bangladeshi men exercise different privileges.

Concrete policy formulations and law amendments need to be made to remove women’s discrimination, ensure women’s equality and equal rights as men in Bangladesh, especially through affirmative actions and secular approaches.

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Published at The Independent, Weekend Magazine, Friday 1 July, 2011
http://www.theindependentbd.com/weekly-independent/58197-state-of-womens-inheritance-in-bangladesh.html

Published at Forum, The Daily Star, July 2011
http://www.thedailystar.net/forum/2011/July/readers.htm