Zonta, the world's renowned service-based international organisation which has been continuously working to advance the status of women around the world, and the members of the Zonta Club of Greater Dhaka applauded the outcome and success of a number of projects on Thursday at a city hotel in the capital.

The Area Meeting was chaired by Area Director Shreejana Rana from Nepal, with the gracious presence of honorable dignitaries including Past ZI and CEAC Rep Dilruba Ahmed, District 25 Governor Shahnaz Nathani from Srilanka, Lt Governor Errick Elavia from India. Past Governors and Zontians of D25

The projects include financing Ashar Alo Pathshala, an acclaimed venture which prevented a number of early marriage of adolescent girls in Kurigram. The venture is led by Kumar Bishwajit Barman who became a Microsoft's Brand Ambassador in 2017 and the recipient of Zonta's Centennial Anniversary Award.

In celebration of the brave team, Zonta invited Barman along with two other girls, Romana and Fatema- who shared their stories of struggle and success to the audience.

The girls, Fatema (who also later became a Brand Ambassador for Microsoft in 2018) and Romana, were forced to sit for marriage in their childhood.

Thankfully, with the assistance of Ashar Alo Pathshala which started its journey in 2007, both of these girls are pursuing higher education as well as teaching in the IT school, founded by the Ashar Alo Pathshala.

"We started back in 2007 in our Nagesshwari Upazila in Kurigram, without any fear- as you can assume it was a bold move. Till date, we have stopped 120 child marriages of adolescent girls. They all are now studying under the scholarships provided by our Ashar Alo Pathshala", Kumar Bishwajit Barman told UNB.

How does the school operate? "We charge a very little sum of money from the students in our IT school, and we invest that money for making studentship free of cost in our Ashar Alo Pathshala. Also, donors like Zonta always had been a great support", Barman explained.

Zonta officials including President of the Zonta Club of Greater Dhaka Nehreen Rahman, Treasurer Tehmina Enayet and former President Tootli Rahman, lauded the effort of Ashar Alo Pathshala and its representatives, Fatema and Romana at the event.

Another initiative of working in Rohingya camps of Cox's Bazar for raising awareness, particularly among women which was conducted by Zonta's Second Vice-President Samia Rahman, was also presented and described at the event.

Samia, who had been working in Rohingya camps for last one year, described the initiatives of providing equipment such as torchlights for safety measures.and sewing machine to the women in the camp to make them economically stable.

Under the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Coastal Association for Social Transformation Trust (COAST) to support Rohingya families in Cox's Bazar, Zonta also build neat and clean toilets specifically considering the hygienic safety and comfort for the women living in the camps.

Zonta International is a non-partisan international organisation founded in 1919 in Buffalo, New York. Currently, it has 30,000 members in 63 countries.

Established in 2012, Zonta Club of Greater Dhaka has been working to empower leprosy-affected women, rehabilitate trafficking victims and stop child marriage through projects such as the Ashar Alo Pathshala.