Bangladeshi Minister Stresses Gender Equality

By Kim Se-jeong

Staff Reporter

A female Bangladeshi minister said she is participating in a forum in Seoul to share successful stories of women from her country.

`` I feel that women in Bangladesh have achieved a lot. But this is not known," said Geeteara Safiya Choudhury who heads four ministries _ the Ministries of Industries; Social Welfare; Textile and Jute; and Women and Children Affairs.

The minister came to Korea to attend the three-day World Women's Forum in 2007 at Sheraton Walkerhill Hotel, which ends Friday.

``The impression that people outside Bangladesh have is that Bangladeshi women are those who stay indoors and don't do anything,'' she said in an interview with The Korea Times in Seoul Wednesday.

She gave the example of a female entrepreneur who fought through many obstacles to give her daughter a proper education and support other women in Bangladesh.

The minister herself is also an example.

Choudhury began her career as a journalist in 1964. She said she found herself to be the only woman in the newsroom of the Pakistan Observer, now the Bangladesh Observer.

After seven years, she moved into the advertising sector as a businesswoman where she spent nearly four decades until her appointment as a minister. In the Bangladeshi government, she is the only female minister.

She said her job is quite demanding requiring a lot of responsibility. ``I was slightly scared at first, but I was confident.'' Her deep calm voice and bright red sari, a traditional costume, gave her an air of confidence.

As many successful women often stress, she also that the education and family support she was given were what molded her as a confident female individual in a patriarchal nation.

``I came from a privileged background,'' she said, talking about her childhood. Her mother, not an intellectual nor a career women, had always told her daughters about equality between men and women. Her father provided his daughters and sons with an equal education despite resistance from her grandmother.

``I grew up knowing there's no difference between a boy and a girl,'' she said.

She also acknowledged the ceaseless support of her husband. ``There's a saying: Behind every successful man there's a woman. In my case, behind every success, there's a man.''

She has one daughter and one son who she teaches just the same way as she learned from her parents.

``I tell my son to treat women with respect. To my daughter, If your brother learns to play cricket, you learn to play it, too,''' she said.

Through the efforts of the Ministry of Women and Children Affairs, the minister said, Bangladesh is making positive progress in the welfare of females, but a lot of work still remains.

During her stay in Seoul, she also met with Minister of Gender Equality and Family Jang Ha-jin at the residence of the Bangladeshi ambassador Wednesday.