Bangladesh

Sheikh Hasina calls for strengthening global partnership to eliminate homelessness Sheikh Hasina
Photo: PID PM Sheikh Hasina is addressing a side event on 'Sustainable and Affordable Housing' at the United Nations

Sheikh Hasina calls for strengthening global partnership to eliminate homelessness

Bangladesh Live News | @banglalivenews | 22 Sep 2022, 05:40 pm

Own Correspondent, Dhaka, Sept 22: Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said that safe and suitable housing is the basic right of every person. She also urged world leaders to strengthen global partnerships to end the scourge of homelessness.

The Prime Minister, who is visiting the United States to attend the United Nations General Assembly session, made the call in a side event speech on 'Sustainable and Affordable Housing' on Wednesday (September 21).

Realizing the problem of homelessness with her own heart, the Prime Minister said that homelessness is really a curse. It affects people in both developed and developing countries. Our experience tells us that it is within our power to remove this curse. All our friends and partners gathered here can build a strong partnership in its implementation.

Sheikh Hasina said that despite being a country with a population of 16.5 crores, Bangladesh has successfully solved the issue of homelessness. "We have provided houses with free land to homeless-landless people. I am here today to share my successful experience in building sustainable houses for underprivileged people across the country."

After the independence of Bangladesh in 1972, Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman took initiatives to rehabilitate the landless, homeless and rootless people as a development priority.

"Two lakh houses have been constructed in the last two years alone, sheltering nearly one million people. In 18 years during my Prime Ministership, we have provided accommodation to 35 lakh homeless people in more than 5 lakh houses. Apart from this, the construction of 40,000 more houses is currently underway. Under this scheme, each family gets ownership of a 400 square feet brick house with two bedrooms, a long balcony, a kitchen and a sanitary latrine."

The Prime Minister said the beneficiaries of these houses are landless-homeless, beggars, daily labourers, destitute women, widows, disabled, elderly persons, victims of domestic violence, ethnic minorities, third gender people, lepers, sweepers and the so-called lower caste Harijan community.

Referring to the fact that the government is also helping families affected by climate change, Sheikh Hasina said, "So far, we have accommodated 5,000 climate-refugee families in 139 multi-storey buildings in Cox's Bazar. Earlier, the sight of homeless people flocking to cities for employment and shelter was well known. But this trend has almost stopped since the introduction of the Asharyan scheme. Because these people are now getting self-employment opportunities in their own area."