12/10/2025
Today on International Day of the Girl Child, let’s celebrate every girl’s right to dream, to learn, to lead, to live in dignity.
As a father to a daughter, I know that empowering girls is not just policy - it’s personal. Our vision for Bangladesh is one where every girl has the same freedom, opportunity, and safety that any parent would wish for their own child.
BNP governments have a legacy of changing lives, and we recommit to doing more, if given the opportunity.
We saw how President Ziaur Rahman drove the growth of the garment sector to become more than an industry; it became hope. Millions of women entered formal work, gaining income, respect, and independence. Under his stewardship, the Ministry of Women's Affairs was created with the singular purpose of institutionalising the betterment of the lives of girls and women across Bangladesh.
Under Prime Minister Khaleda Zia’s leadership, education for girls became a right, not a privilege. Education was declared free up to Grade 10, and the ‘Food for Education, Cash for Education’ programmes kept millions of girls in school, shifting family destinies, building stronger communities, creating a generation of empowered women.
Her pioneering 'Female Secondary School Assistance Project' achieved gender parity for the first time in secondary schools in our history and reduced child marriages, going on to become a global model for girls’ education and empowerment, replicated in other developing countries.
These show bold steps that proved what’s possible when governance honours the dignity of girls and invests in their future.
BNP’s future policies continue to honour and invest, through:
1. “Family Cards” in the name of women heads of households - ensuring aid and support go directly to the backbone of every family
2. SME loans, business training and financial support for women entrepreneurs -because economic independence is non-negotiable
3. Stronger academic and vocational opportunities for girls - so that every girl, whether in village or city, can gain skills and build a future
4. Women at the table of decision-making – increased participation in politics, governance, policy. A safe nation demands no less
5. Protection of dignity and freedom - enabling daughters to move, speak, access the internet, live without fear
6. Family & social welfare as core policy - health, rural empowerment, jobs for all, with special focus on women and girls
We do not speak in empty rhetoric. We speak from conviction, backed by legacy and intention.
For every girl who dreams, we will make the state her partner, not her obstacle.
