Celebration of the Mother's Day has until now made an appeal to a small segment of Bangladesh society. But still it has gained some ground in the collective consciousness of the country's young generation. Affluence is its lifeblood. The majority of boys and girls and their mothers may not have even heard of any such occasion. Or, if some of those in the lower segments of society are aware of such a celebration, they are yet to come out of their cultural inhibition or have the wherewithal to make the occasion meaningful.
Yet the occasion at least gives an opportunity for some to enthuse over their bond with their mothers. On the Father's Day, they are happy to make a protestation of their attachment to their fathers. Here is a bonding between children and parents that waits neither for addition or subtraction. But then with children growing up and having their own families, the nature of bonding changes.
Emotional attachment apart, how mothers in general fare in a society can be a measure of that society's progress -not just economic but an all-round advancement. The Save the Children, a rights organisation working for mothers and children, in its State of the World's Mothers index report-2015, published on Tuesday, has made a list of 179 countries of the world on the basis of their position in society. The point is to evaluate how well-off mothers are in a particular society. In the preparation of the list, mothers' and children's health, educational, economic and social status of mothers have been taken into consideration.
Quite expectedly, the first five places have been occupied by the Nordic countries in the order of Norway, Finland, Iceland, Denmark and Sweden. No wonder, at the bottom of the list is Somalia which is followed by Democratic Republic of Congo, Central African Republic, Mali and Niger. This is undoubtedly a representative picture of the world's mothers. If the mothers in the Scandinavian countries are better off than the rest of their counterparts on this planet, those in the five African countries mentioned above are the worst off.
Where do mothers in Bangladesh find themselves particularly compared with their kinds in the sub-continent. To know that their position has remained static at 130th position is not highly inspiring. However, this knowledge sinks with the additional information that India has slipped to 140th place from 137th and Pakistan languishes at 149th place. If this sounds salubrious, there is yet another factor to deflate the mood. When compared with other members of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) like Sri Lanka, the Maldives, Nepal and Bhutan, this country discovers to its shock that it falls way behind the first two which are ranked 92nd and even poorer Nepal now struggling to cope with the quake disaster ranks 114th on the index.
Evidently, economic status of a country or society does not always determine the position of children and mother. The overall attitude of society acts as a determinant factor. True, Bangladesh's rapid progress in reducing both infant and maternal death at childbirth has gone some way in raising its ranking on the State of the World's Mothers index but in terms of socio-economic status, they are lagging their neighbours far behind. In Norway, women have 40 per cent representative in its parliament. Bangladesh has women prime ministers and leaders of the opposition for consecutive terms but in terms of representation in parliament or in government or corporate offices, they really cut a sorry figure.
Education and empowerment are a key to elevating the status of a member in society -be it a man or woman. In the South Asian countries, particularly in India and Bangladesh, an alarming increase in sexual attacks on women brings to the fore the lack of respect for the weaker sex. Such attacks are unimaginable for a person who has the least respect for his mother or sister. If women are viewed as equal human beings, instead of sex object, sexual aberration cannot take this loathsome form.
Admittedly, the country's garments industry has brought girls and women out of their homes and in the process helped them gain some authority on their economic affairs. Surely they have benefited from this opening for income. But it would be wrong if it is not noted that these girls are mostly uneducated and earn too meagre an income to lead a decent life. It is a new phenomenon on the country's economic front but it is highly discriminatory too. These girls may have learnt to delay their marriage or those married are conditioned to space births of children, but they also have to struggle hard for survival.
If women can make it to the policy and decision-making positions in an increasing number, they will definitely be able to contribute far more than their male counterparts. An educated mother is best qualified to bring up her children. Society needs educated mothers who are economically well-off too in order to bring about changes in gender relations and social equilibrium for the better.
Although political will has not been found wanting in increasing investment in healthcare for children, it has also been noticed that the percentage of total budget on this head is decreasing. Again, the country's fight against child and maternal mortality is far from over because one out of 24 children dies before their fifth birthday and 60 per cent of those within just 28 days. Also in countries like Bangladesh children in poor families have a three to five times higher chance of dying young compared to rich families. This is all because of maldistribution of wealth and healthcare facilities.
All this highlights the problems facing mothers and children and to fight those adversities there is a need for education and economic provision for women. If women have sufficient representation in key policymaking positions, they can appreciate those problems better and formulate policies for effectively addressing those.
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