Alongside the decrease in population growth there has also been a fall in infant and child mortality rates. As gratified as we may be, considering those improved indicators, we still have serious concerns about population growth in Bangladesh. We are indeed sitting on a veritable demographic time bomb.

Despite the limited success, spearheaded primarily by the NGO community, the overall empowerment of women through use of micro-credit and windows of income generating activities, the realities of gender equality and women's emancipation still continue to be sordid, far from satisfactory. If we are to attain a sustainable success with our programmes for containment of population growth, we do need to address the weak points in the strategy we have followed so far. Early marriages are a serious impediment to containing birth rates and population growth. Of the total 45 million young people in Bangladesh, 48 percent are girls and are married before the age of 16 and become mothers before 19. See how immobilised they are!

Investments should also cover the male segment of the population by way providing them with jobs. This will have the spin-off in terms of checking terrorism; most of the perpetrators at the ground level being young of age, of poor economic background, and vulnerable to being duped by offers of money for a bad cause. We must, therefore, focus our attention on further closing the gender gaps alongside empowerment of women and creation of income generating opportunities across the board.

Dealing with the whole gamut of population growth in a resource-poor country like Bangladesh in a trouble-torn global context is a daunting challenge -- complex and arduous at the same time. Still, we have made some initial headway to take heart from; but let us not forget that there is no room for complacency in such a gigantic undertaking. We must continue to strive harder and harder, now that we know that we have to succeed in order to survive as a self-respecting nation.