Centre on Integrated Rural Development for Asia and the Pacific (CIRDAP) celebrated the International Women’s Day on March 8, 2021. This year’s theme is “Women in leadership: Achieving an equal future in a COVID-19 world,” and the campaign theme is #ChooseToChallenge. This day celebrates the tremendous efforts by women and girls around the world in shaping a more equal future and recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic and highlights the gaps that remain. A challenged world is an alert world and from challenge comes change.

A very short ceremony was organized in the CIRDAP auditorium with a handful of employees. Office-in-charge of CIRDAP Prof. Dr. Mohammad Helal Uddin, Director of Research, gave a wonderful heartwarming speech on this day. Prof. Helal uddin said, “Women still have to go a long way to achieve equality because our society still is narrow-minded and backward”. He emphasized changing the attitude of society towards women and girls for achieving SDG.

Apart from this, other CIRDAP staff shared their own experiences and feelings towards women’s hardships and battles in the society. At the end of the occasion, all CIRDAP staff promised the campaign #ChooseToChallenge to bring equality and equity to thousands of women in Asia and the Pacific countries.