The New Nation - Internet Edition

BSS, Dhaka

Gender guidelines have been launched for police stations in the country yesterday aimed at making the staff in police stations more gender sensitive.

Md. Anwarul Iqbal, BPM (Bar), PPM, Adviser for the Ministry of Local government and Rural Development (LGRD) and Labour and Employment launched the guidelines at a formal meeting.

"The preparation and launch of the first-ever gender guidelines for police in Bangladesh as part of the Police Reform Programme (PRP), is a very significant milestone," Mr. Iqbal said on unveiling the guidelines.

Gender inequalities, imbalances, biases and gaps exist at all levels in the society of the country. So far, the pace of mainstreaming gender in the delivery of police services has been slow party due to the absence of appropriate tools and guidelines. The guidelines have been developed to accelerate the gender mainstreaming process.

"The implementation of the guidelines will change the current situation for the better. It is expected to sensitize police personnel and lead to a re-orientation of the police attitude towards women and children," Mr. Iqbal added.

Md. Abdul Karim, secretary, Ministry of Home Affairs, ASM Shahjahan, senior Adviser for police reform, UNDP, N B K Tripura, ndc, Additional IGP and National Project Director, PRP, Ms Honor Flanagan, Governance Adviser, DFID, and Mr. Hubert Staberhofer, Programme Manager, PRP spoke on the occasion.

The PRP of the Government is implemented by the Police supported by United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the Department for International Development (DFID) and the European Commission. Gender issues are one of the major crosscutting issues relevant to all outputs and activities of the programme.

Since 2005, the PRP has undertaken several initiatives in order to make policing gender responsive. These activities include: organising gender sensitive training for police officers across different departments; assisting in the creation of a Women Police Network; professional development of women police; and establishment of Victim Support Centres strategy with the involvement of women police.