A roundtable titled “Advancing Indigenous Rights in the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT): Progress, Challenges and Political Commitments” was held on 26 January 2026, at the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD), Dhaka.

The power sector has become a ‘corruption sector’ over the last 16 years of governance, bleeding trillions of taka. Our key expectation for party manifestos is a clear roadmap addressing two interlinked crises: energy security and systemic graft.

Speakers at a roundtable yesterday urged strict enforcement of existing laws rather than introducing new ones, calling for swift and exemplary punishment for offenders to prevent violence against women.

A roundtable titled “Violence Against Women and Children in Bangladesh:

Future-ready, comprehension-led learning: Keep Bangladesh’s grade-wise benchmarks, but refocus them on literacy and numeracy plus problem-solving, reasoning and socio-emotional skills. Teach for meaning and application, and align classroom and public assessments to reward understanding over memorisation.

Congratulations are in order for the amended Labour Law and the ratification of key ILO conventions, an important step forward over the past year.

A roundtable titled “From Risk to Resilience: Institutionalising Climate Risk Insurance into Bangladesh’s Social Protection and Disaster Management Mechanisms” was held on 26 November 2025 at The Daily Star Centre, Dhaka.

A roundtable titled “Violence Against Women Survey 2024: Translating Evidence Into Actions” was held on 24 November 2025, at The Daily Star Centre, Dhaka. Jointly organised by United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and The Daily Star.

Bangladesh continues to rely overwhelmingly on bank financing, while equity financing remains largely untapped. According to a World Bank survey, only 0.5% of Bangladeshi businesses consider equity as a funding option, compared to 6.9% in India.

A roundtable titled “Strengthening Maternal, Neonatal and Child Health in Southern Bangladesh” was held on October 30, 2025, at The Daily Star Centre, Dhaka.

Bangladesh is entering a defining decade that will determine whether its vast youth population becomes the engine of sustainable growth or a missed opportunity.

The Asia-Pacific region has experienced significant shifts in trade, investment, and economic growth. Starting with gradual trade liberalisation, followed by regional integration initiatives and structural reforms, progress in many parts of this region is quite evident.

A roundtable titled “Advancing Gender-Responsive Climate Action: Road to COP30” was held on September 1, 2025, at The Daily Star Centre, Dhaka. Jointly organised under the EmPower Project—led by UN Women and UNEP with support from the Governments of Sweden and New Zealand—and hosted by The Daily Star, the dialogue brought together government officials, development partners, civil society, and academics.

At Badabon Sangho, as a women-led and women’s rights organisation, we have been working with fisherfolk communities with a strong focus on advancing the rights of women in fisheries.

Say speakers at Star roundtable

Business leaders have continued to push the government to seek a deferral of Bangladesh’s graduation to a developing nation by five to six years, warning that a premature transition would cripple industries, erode export competitiveness, and trigger massive job losses.

Leading entrepreneurs yesterday urged the government to create an environment more conducive to doing business as Bangladesh prepares to graduate from the UN’s least developed country (LDC) category next year.

Calling the sharp rise in child sexual abuse across Bangladesh a “national crisis”, rights groups have urged the government to take urgent and coordinated action.

Tangles in government services remain a major challenge for turning ideas into reality and becoming successful entrepreneurs, said young innovators at a roundtable yesterday.

Bangladesh has strong potential in agro-processing, which is emerging as a key driver of value beyond traditional farming. Global demand for safe, high-quality processed food is growing fast, and Bangladesh already exports over $1.2 billion annually in this sector.