Coastal women, adolescents bear brunt of climate change: expert

Speakers at a discussion meeting stressed the urgent need for climate-resilient health protection for women and adolescents in the country's coastal belt, particularly in Satkhira, one of the regions hardest hit by climate change.

"Our coastal women and adolescents face the hardest impacts of climate change. By ensuring climate-resilient health protection and protecting our environment, we can build a stronger, healthier society," Shah Israt Azmery, chairman of rights organisation Children Watch Foundation, said while speaking as chief guest to the event in Satkhira.

She also called upon the youth and women to take a leading role in raising awareness for a safe and sustainable future.

The event was organized by Children Watch Foundation at Padmapukur Union in Satkhira on Saturday where Afroza Akhter, treasurer of the Foundation, Muhsin Hossain, headmaster of Chandnimukha MM Secondary School; SM Yasminur Rahman, headmaster of Gabura Gopal Lakshmi Memorial Secondary School; and Maolana Ajmal Hossain, assistant teacher at Pakhimara Aminia Women's Madrasa, and Ariful Islam, a local resource person, also spoke.

The programme shed light on the disproportionate risks faced by coastal communities, particularly women and adolescents, and called for greater community engagement to ensure a resilient health system in the wake of climate change, according to the press release.