Zonta Club of Greater Dhaka on Monday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Coastal Association for Social Transformation Trust (COAST) to support Rohingya families in Cox's Bazar.

Tootli Rahman, President of Zonta Club of Greater Dhaka, and Shawkat Ali Tutul, Assistant Director of COAST, signed the deal at an informal ceremony held at city's Baridhara following the 6th General Meeting of the club.

A cheque of Tk 115,000 was handed over to Shawkat Ali Tutul as the first installment of the support.

Zonta is a service-based international organisation working to advance the status of women.

In the meeting, the members discussed different aspects of a number of projects planned which include financing Ashar Alo Pathshala.

Certificates of Appreciation were awarded to a few club members who contributed significantly to previous projects under Zonta Club of Greater Dhaka.

Zonta Club of Greater Dhaka Secretary Sonya Panni, Treasurer Tehmina Enayet, Area Vice-president Zerin Karim, and other members were present at the programme.

"For the last one year, our Second Vice-President Samia Rahman has been working in Rohingya camps of Cox's Bazar raising awareness, particularly among women," Tootli Rahman told UNB.

She said the club wants to approach in a tangible way and extend help to a small number of families for now.

The club president further said they are planning to provide women with sewing machines for generating incomes for themselves. They will also be given torchlights for safety measures.

"We'll also provide medicines for them, especially for newborns," she added.

Corrigendum

Dhaka Courier, in its November 30, 2018 issue, ran a story headlined "Zonta Club launches 16-day programme against child marriage" on page 32. It mistakenly published "The Zonta Club president said their organisation joined hands with the United Nations to root out the social menace of child marriage." We regret the mistake and it will be read as "The Zonta club president said their organisation, like the United Nations, is working to root out the social menace of child marriage".