Wellcome to National Portal
Bangladesh National Portal
See Other Government Offices
মেনু নির্বাচন করুন
Main Comtent Skiped

At a Glance

Mothers and daughters of Bengal were directly and indirectly involved in the great war of liberation and played a strong role. They took part in the confrontation and cooperated with the freedom fighters. They have been tortured. But they were not properly evaluated. In 1972, with the goodwill and personal initiative of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, a 'Women's Rehabilitation Board' was set up for the rehabilitation of women who were injured and tortured in the war of liberation. Due to the increase in the responsibilities and scope of work of the Board, the Board was reorganized into a larger body by an Act of Parliament in 1974 and was upgraded to 'Women's Rehabilitation Welfare Foundation'. Father of the Nation Bangabandhu allotted the land for the office of the present Department of Women's Affairs.

1974 was declared the 'Year of the Woman' by the United Nations and International Women's Day was officially recognized. On the occasion of World Women's Year, under the direction of Dr. Neelima Ibrahim, a National Preparatory Committee was formed under the leadership of Dr. Nilima Ibrahim. Representing the meeting of the Preparatory Committee for the International Conference on Women held in Hungary in 1974 and leading the first World Conference on Women held in Mexico in July 1975 marked the beginning of the international relations of Bangladeshi women. In the context of declaring 1986-1975 as the 'Women's Decade' at this conference, the issues of women's rights in the international arena came to the forefront of development.

Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman directed the Director General of the Department of Social Welfare to create an organizational structure for the overall development of women at all levels in Bangladesh and change their status to reflect the government's national and international commitment to women's development. In the light of this, the National Women's Organization was established on 18 February 1966. Later, in order to make the activities of the organization more effective and strong, the National Women's Organization was transformed into a statutory organization on May 4, 1991 under Act No.9.