BANGLADESH

The country has celebrated Meena Day under the theme of 'Love and affection can win all that punishment can never do'.

Meena is a fictional character who stars in the South Asian children's television show Meena. United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNISEF) conceived Meena in the early 1990s with the help and guidance of Hanna-Barbara Cartoons and Ram Mohan (father of Indian animation).

The project came out of a need to confront the extreme discrimination against girls in the South Asia region.

The goal of the Meena initiative is to create a girl character that would represent little girls in Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Nepal, dealing with serious issues in the region such as education, early marriage, unequal food and work load, while entertaining at the same time, through her stories in comic books, animated films, and radio series (affiliated with the BBC).

The secondary characters of her stories include her brother Raju, and her pet parrot Mithu. All of her stories advocate change in social and cultural practices.

Primary and mass education minister Afsarul Amin at a function in the city marking the Meena Day on Saturday said Meena cartoon has long been playing a vital role in creating social awareness on different issues especially on the necessity of female education.

"I've noticed that apart from the children, the elders also like the Meena character. The character not only raises awareness among the children but also the elders," he added.

Referring to the limitation of the academic education, the minister said: "In reality, it's difficult to bring positive changes to society through formal or academic education. Also, it's very difficult to bring the vast population of a country like Bangladesh under formal education due to manpower shortage and other problems."

Afsarul also referred to the pledge of the government to reach education "to the doorsteps of people". He also admired the activities of the non-government organisations (NGO).

He, however, said there was a lack of sincerity among the officials of different government bodies.

The primary and mass education directorate organised the function at the auditorium of Institute of Diploma Engineers.