 | |  | |  | |  | |  | |  |
| Muhammad Yunus, Nobel Lecture, Oslo, December 10, 2006 (http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/2006/yunus-lecture-en.html) . |
| “Poverty is a Threat to Peace” |
| © 2016 Bangladesh Development Research Center Inc. (BDRC) Text and graphics may be reproduced in whole or in part and in any form for educational or non-profit purposes, provided that credit is given to the source. High definition pixel copies of any photo displayed on the BDRC website are available upon request. |
| Quotes on the BDRC's websites are provided as "food for thought". They should not be considered to be policy statements, especially as they may have been taken out of context. |
| | | | | | | | | | |
| The BDRC's purposes are to undertake and disseminate research on development issues relevant for Bangladesh in order to foster the peaceful development of nations. |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
You will need Acrobat Reader to view pdf files - available as a free download. |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| The BDRC is an independent, non-partisan, non-profit research organization, run by volunteers. |
| Current Hot Topics / Features |
| Bangladesh Awakening IFPRI film produced for the Bangladesh Food Security Investment Forum 2010. |
| Southern Promise IFPRI video produced for the Bangladesh Food Security Policy Workshop (Oct. 4-5, 2011). |
| Bangladesh Development Research Center (BDRC) |
| Welcome to Bangladesh Movie documentary provided by & copyright of: 1We - One World Experience |
| Easy Like Water A visionary architect is building floating schools to turn the front lines of climate change into a community of learning. |
September 23, 2016: New BDRC Working Paper compares child marriages in
Bangladesh and Niger
A new BDRC Working Paper by Samantha Morrow analyzes the economic motivation behind
marrying girls, explains the cyclical role of education, and examines the health-related
consequences. While technically illegal, child marriage is culturally significant and has
continued to be prevalent in Bangladesh and Niger. With 76 percent of girls married before
they turn 18, Niger has the highest rate of child brides in the world. Poverty is a driving factor
for many families in Niger to marry girls. In Bangladesh, where 52 percent of girls are married
before they turn 18, sociocultural norms are a key motivating influence.
LEARN MORE --->
_______________________________________________________________________
Fourth International Conference on Inclusive Education will be held in Dhaka on
January 12-14, 2017
Under the banner of the Asian Centre for Inclusive Education (ACIE), the 4th International
Conference on Inclusive Education will be held in Dhaka on January 12-14, 2017.
The deadline for the submission of abstracts is October 30, 2016.
LEARN MORE --->
________________________________________________________________________
Reimagining South Asia in 2030: Ninth SAES in Dhaka on October 15-16, 2016
The Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) will host the Ninth South Asia Economic Summit
(SAES-IX) in Dhaka on October 15-16, 2016. SAES is an annual event conceived and
organized by five leading think tanks of South Asia. Deliberations at SAES-IX would focus on
envisioning a South Asia which by 2030 will be an upper middle income region with high GDP
growth rate, a strong middle class, zero hard core poverty and hunger, sustainable cities,
structurally transformed economies with strong manufacturing sector. The outcome of the
SAES-IX will be fed into the preparatory process of the 19th SAARC Summit which will
be held in Pakistan during November 9-10, 2016.
LEARN MORE --->
________________________________________________________________________
Sept. 9, 2016: Bangladesh needs more women in unions to improve worker rights
As reported by Anastasia Moloney at the Thomson Reuters Foundation, low wages, a lack of
women in senior management positions, few female union leaders, and getting more women to
join trade unions remain key challenges in Bangladesh’s 5,000 garment factories, which
employ about 4 million workers, of whom around 80 percent are women. Former child laborer
Nazma Akter, now the head of Sommilito Garments Sramik Federation (SGSF), a 100,000-
strong trade union, argues that “If you don't know your rights, you can’t stand up for them.”
LEARN MORE --->
________________________________________________________________________
FOBANA 2016 Convention to be held September 2-4, 2016 in Washington, DC
Hosted by the Bangladesh Association of Greater Washington DC (BAGWDC), the Federation
of Bangladeshi Associations in North America (FOBANA)’s 2016 convention will be held during
September 2-4, 2016, in the Sheraton Pentagon City Hotel, Arlington, Virginia.
LEARN MORE --->
________________________________________________________________________
July 29, 2016: How many people have access to the internet in Bangladesh?
As reported by the Daily Star, there is some dispute about Bangladesh’s internet penetration.
According to a recent report by the International Telecommunication Union, Bangladesh has
the lowest internet penetration in South Asia, with just 14.40 percent of the population having
connectivity to the internet. On the other hand, Zunaid Ahmed Palak, state minister for ICT,
said that the country’s internet penetration is about 40 percent.
LEARN MORE --->
________________________________________________________________________
July 2, 2016: BDRC condemns despicable act of terrorism in Dhaka
The Bangladesh Development Research Center (BDRC) condemns the despicable act of
terrorism in a restaurant popular with foreigners in Dhaka. The Bangladeshi government and all
governments can and must to more to eliminate ISIS everywhere. As the vast majority of
Muslims have recognized, any such acts (including if targeted at non-Muslims) are forbidden by
Islam (see the BDRC’s feature of June 21, 2016).
LEARN MORE (about Islam being a religion of peace) --->
________________________________________________________________________
June 21, 2016: Anti-Terror Fatwa Endorsed by 100,000 Bangladeshi Islamic Scholars
As reported by Voice of America, a leading Islamic group in Bangladesh has issued a fatwa
condemning terrorism and militancy, including violent attacks on non-Muslims and secular
writers and activists, as "Haraam," or forbidden and un-Islamic. The fatwa, or religious decree,
was signed by more than 100,000 Islamic scholars, legal experts and clerics, and presented by
Maulana Fariduddin Masoud, chairman of Bangladesh Jamiatul Ulama (BJU), a national body of
Islamic scholars.
LEARN MORE --->
________________________________________________________________________
June 9, 2016: Bangladeshi Inventor Creates Electricity-Free Air Conditioner
As reported by Yahoo News, Bangladeshi inventor Ashis Paul has figured out how to repurpose
plastic bottles into a low-cost, easy-to-make, electricity-free air conditioner. The science behind
the Eco-Cooler is based on the idea that the bottleneck becomes a funnel that compresses and
cools the air that runs through it by about five degrees, according to the Eco-Cooler website.
LEARN MORE --->
________________________________________________________________________
May 19, 2016: Recent string of vicious killings in Bangladesh is a governance issue
In an opinion piece of the New York Times, dated May 19, 2016, William B. Milam, who is a
senior policy scholar at the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington and a former U.S.
ambassador to Bangladesh and Pakistan, wrote: “The recent string of vicious killings in
Bangladesh is less a terrorism issue than a governance issue: It is the ruling Awami League’s
onslaught against its political opponents, which began in earnest after the last election in
January 2014, that has unleashed extremists in Bangladesh.”
LEARN MORE --->
________________________________________________________________________
April 29, 2016: Bangladesh has the potential to become one of the leading economies
As reported by the Daily Star, the Chinese Ambassador in Dhaka, Ma Mingqiang, said that
Bangladesh has all the potential to become one of the leading economies in the world and
China wants to support it in every possible way. The Chinese envoy said Bangladesh has a
huge potential market, huge labor force and very strategic geo-location in between three major
economies -- India, Northeast Asia and Southeast Asia.
LEARN MORE --->
________________________________________________________________________
Previous Hot Topics
Bangladesh and Niger
A new BDRC Working Paper by Samantha Morrow analyzes the economic motivation behind
marrying girls, explains the cyclical role of education, and examines the health-related
consequences. While technically illegal, child marriage is culturally significant and has
continued to be prevalent in Bangladesh and Niger. With 76 percent of girls married before
they turn 18, Niger has the highest rate of child brides in the world. Poverty is a driving factor
for many families in Niger to marry girls. In Bangladesh, where 52 percent of girls are married
before they turn 18, sociocultural norms are a key motivating influence.
LEARN MORE --->
_______________________________________________________________________
Fourth International Conference on Inclusive Education will be held in Dhaka on
January 12-14, 2017
Under the banner of the Asian Centre for Inclusive Education (ACIE), the 4th International
Conference on Inclusive Education will be held in Dhaka on January 12-14, 2017.
The deadline for the submission of abstracts is October 30, 2016.
LEARN MORE --->
________________________________________________________________________
Reimagining South Asia in 2030: Ninth SAES in Dhaka on October 15-16, 2016
The Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) will host the Ninth South Asia Economic Summit
(SAES-IX) in Dhaka on October 15-16, 2016. SAES is an annual event conceived and
organized by five leading think tanks of South Asia. Deliberations at SAES-IX would focus on
envisioning a South Asia which by 2030 will be an upper middle income region with high GDP
growth rate, a strong middle class, zero hard core poverty and hunger, sustainable cities,
structurally transformed economies with strong manufacturing sector. The outcome of the
SAES-IX will be fed into the preparatory process of the 19th SAARC Summit which will
be held in Pakistan during November 9-10, 2016.
LEARN MORE --->
________________________________________________________________________
Sept. 9, 2016: Bangladesh needs more women in unions to improve worker rights
As reported by Anastasia Moloney at the Thomson Reuters Foundation, low wages, a lack of
women in senior management positions, few female union leaders, and getting more women to
join trade unions remain key challenges in Bangladesh’s 5,000 garment factories, which
employ about 4 million workers, of whom around 80 percent are women. Former child laborer
Nazma Akter, now the head of Sommilito Garments Sramik Federation (SGSF), a 100,000-
strong trade union, argues that “If you don't know your rights, you can’t stand up for them.”
LEARN MORE --->
________________________________________________________________________
FOBANA 2016 Convention to be held September 2-4, 2016 in Washington, DC
Hosted by the Bangladesh Association of Greater Washington DC (BAGWDC), the Federation
of Bangladeshi Associations in North America (FOBANA)’s 2016 convention will be held during
September 2-4, 2016, in the Sheraton Pentagon City Hotel, Arlington, Virginia.
LEARN MORE --->
________________________________________________________________________
July 29, 2016: How many people have access to the internet in Bangladesh?
As reported by the Daily Star, there is some dispute about Bangladesh’s internet penetration.
According to a recent report by the International Telecommunication Union, Bangladesh has
the lowest internet penetration in South Asia, with just 14.40 percent of the population having
connectivity to the internet. On the other hand, Zunaid Ahmed Palak, state minister for ICT,
said that the country’s internet penetration is about 40 percent.
LEARN MORE --->
________________________________________________________________________
July 2, 2016: BDRC condemns despicable act of terrorism in Dhaka
The Bangladesh Development Research Center (BDRC) condemns the despicable act of
terrorism in a restaurant popular with foreigners in Dhaka. The Bangladeshi government and all
governments can and must to more to eliminate ISIS everywhere. As the vast majority of
Muslims have recognized, any such acts (including if targeted at non-Muslims) are forbidden by
Islam (see the BDRC’s feature of June 21, 2016).
LEARN MORE (about Islam being a religion of peace) --->
________________________________________________________________________
June 21, 2016: Anti-Terror Fatwa Endorsed by 100,000 Bangladeshi Islamic Scholars
As reported by Voice of America, a leading Islamic group in Bangladesh has issued a fatwa
condemning terrorism and militancy, including violent attacks on non-Muslims and secular
writers and activists, as "Haraam," or forbidden and un-Islamic. The fatwa, or religious decree,
was signed by more than 100,000 Islamic scholars, legal experts and clerics, and presented by
Maulana Fariduddin Masoud, chairman of Bangladesh Jamiatul Ulama (BJU), a national body of
Islamic scholars.
LEARN MORE --->
________________________________________________________________________
June 9, 2016: Bangladeshi Inventor Creates Electricity-Free Air Conditioner
As reported by Yahoo News, Bangladeshi inventor Ashis Paul has figured out how to repurpose
plastic bottles into a low-cost, easy-to-make, electricity-free air conditioner. The science behind
the Eco-Cooler is based on the idea that the bottleneck becomes a funnel that compresses and
cools the air that runs through it by about five degrees, according to the Eco-Cooler website.
LEARN MORE --->
________________________________________________________________________
May 19, 2016: Recent string of vicious killings in Bangladesh is a governance issue
In an opinion piece of the New York Times, dated May 19, 2016, William B. Milam, who is a
senior policy scholar at the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington and a former U.S.
ambassador to Bangladesh and Pakistan, wrote: “The recent string of vicious killings in
Bangladesh is less a terrorism issue than a governance issue: It is the ruling Awami League’s
onslaught against its political opponents, which began in earnest after the last election in
January 2014, that has unleashed extremists in Bangladesh.”
LEARN MORE --->
________________________________________________________________________
April 29, 2016: Bangladesh has the potential to become one of the leading economies
As reported by the Daily Star, the Chinese Ambassador in Dhaka, Ma Mingqiang, said that
Bangladesh has all the potential to become one of the leading economies in the world and
China wants to support it in every possible way. The Chinese envoy said Bangladesh has a
huge potential market, huge labor force and very strategic geo-location in between three major
economies -- India, Northeast Asia and Southeast Asia.
LEARN MORE --->
________________________________________________________________________
Previous Hot Topics