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Notice of EGM
Dear CFOB Members,
This is a notice of an Extraordinary General Meeting of the Conservative Friends of Bangladesh to be held on Wednesday 2nd November.
The EGM will be taking place at 7pm at the Headquarters of Canary Wharf Group at:
One Canada Square
Canary Wharf
London E14 5AB
The Agenda is as follows:
Chairman’s opening remarks
Discussion on changing the constitution
Election of Officers
AOB
Yours sincerely,
Abdus Hamid
Vice Chairman
10 October 2011
Conservative Friends of Bangladesh supporters were recently part of a delegation that visited Bangladesh as part of Project Maja, a social action project organised in association with the Conservative Party.
Photograhpy credits to Andrew Parsons Photography.
31 May 2011
At a recent gathering of supporters of Conservative Friends of Bangladesh it was really encouraging that such a large number attended. Around 120 people were entertained in the Jubilee Room of Westminster Hall within the Palace of Westminster . The purpose of the meeting was to celebrate 40 years of Independence for Bangladesh . Many VIP’s attended including His Excellency High Commissioner, Dr. Sayeedur Rahman Khan and several Members of Parliament, including our Founder and Parliamentary Group Chair Person Anne Main MP. The event was sponsored by Canary Wharf Group PLC.
Lord Tariq Ahmed, Mark Field MP for Cities and Westminster, Nicky Morgan MP for Loughborough and Dr Phillip Lee MP for Bracknell , were amongst many political figures who enjoyed a tremendous evening.
New members from Swindon, Loughborough and Oldham were amongst the crowd of guests who enjoyed excellent food supplied by Muquim who trades through his successful restaurant group Café Naz.
Superb speeches by several of the VIP guests were well received by the members. Members were reminded by national Chairman Tony Lee said he expected them to vote in the upcoming referendum and most certainly should encourage everybody to vote NO to AV and for their Conservative Candidates in the Local Elections.
With such wonderful support from a wide spectrum of people, CFOB can only go from strength to strength.
22 March 2011
Anne Main MP highlights the plight of the Dalits during her speech at the House of Lords
The International Bangladesh Foundation organised a seminar at the House of Lords on 27th January 20111 entitled, "Bangladesh at Cross Roads", hosted by its Chairman, Lord Avebury. The meeting was attended by high-ranking members of the Awami League, namely, Dr Gowhar Rizvi, International Adviser to Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Saber Hossain Choudhury MP and Abdul Matin Khasru MP. Bangladesh's main opposition party, the BNP was also represented and led by the head of its UK chapter, Mr. Kamaruddin Chowdhury.
Issues of democracy, good governance, and the human rights situation in Bangladesh were discussed and a productive dialogue had ensued between the Awami League and the BNP for the first time since the Awami League came to power in 2009.
The Chairman of the Conservative Friends of Bangladesh as well as the All Party Parliamentary Group on Bangladesh, Anne Main MP, delivered a speech highlighting the plight of a little known Hindu community in Bangladesh, the Dalits. They comprise around 3% of the total population and Dhaka alone is home to 66,000 Dalits crammed into 27 so-called Dalit 'colonies'.
Formerly known as 'untouchables', Dalits in Bangladesh live in conditions of extreme poverty and deprivation, crowded into colonies, where they are separated from the rest of the population. The Dalits are the poorest of the poor who are excluded from adequate housing, living under constant threat of eviction from slums. They also face discrimination in accessing education and healthcare, hassled at school by teachers and peers, and turned away from hospitals for being considered 'unclean'.
Anne Main MP recounted her conversation with Moni Rani, the leader the Dalit Women's Forum, who said that Dalit women face multiple layers of discrimination on the grounds of both their caste and their gender. Over 96% of Dalit women in Dhaka are illiterate, with the vast majority forced to drop out of school due to harassment or economic pressures. Furthermore, many Dalit girls are married at just 11 or 12 years old, are sent to live with their in-laws, in houses where three generations often live and sleep in a single room.
Anne Main MP promised that the UK will encourage the Government of Bangladesh, as a caste affected country to co-sponsor a UN resolution to take forward the UN Principles and Guidelines as a constructive and international move towards addressing caste discrimination.
The other contributors to the seminar were, Dr David Lewis of London School of Economics, Abbas Faiz, chief researcher at Amnesty International, Brad Adams, director of the South Asia department of Human Rights Watch and Jim Fitzpatrick MP.
The two hour seminar ended with an agreement for both the Awami League and the BNP to pursue the constructive dialogue that had started at the House of Lords. Anne Main MP commented: "The seminar was extremely productive and I am delighted that both the main parties of Bangladesh agreed to talk to each other after a long spell of boycotts, accusations and counter accusations. Bangladesh has come a long way since the time I was there in 2008 where political freedom was curtailed under the military-backed caretaker government. I hope that the dialogue will continue and they find the room for cooperation in order to eliminate poverty and enhance the status of minority groups, such as the Dalits."
22 March 2011
Help Bangladeshi Mothers
Please consider helping Bangladeshi mothers through the following website:
Women of Action - Bangladesh Donationn
27 January 2011
Anne Main MP attends Downing Street meeting with Prime Minister of Bangladesh
Anne Main, MP for St Albans and the Britain-Bangladesh All Party Parliamentary Group, was invited to Number 10 Downing Street today (Thursday) to meet with Prime Minister David Cameron and the Prime Minister of Bangladesh, Sheikh Hasina.
This followed meetings with Anne and other MPs at the House of Commons yesterday, as part of Hasina's five-day visit to the UK.
Anne said:
"I met today at Number 10 Downing Street with Prime Minister David Cameron, and Sheikh Hasina, the Prime Minister of Bangladesh, in my capacity as chair of the Britain-Bangladesh All Party Parliamentary Group, which fosters better relations between Britain and Bangladesh, and explores problems facing the country.
"At the meeting, our Prime Minister raised a number of issues with Sheikh Hasina, including; climate change, health and education issues, poverty, economic affairs, human rights and fairness in the judicial process.
"It was a warm, frank and cordial meeting, and many of the topics raised at the All Party Parliamentary Group meeting with Sheikh Hasina on Wednesday were covered in depth.
"Sheikh Hasina concluded the and informative meeting by thanking the UK for its support, particularly on international aid, and invited our Prime Minister to visit Bangladesh at some point soon."
14 December 2010
The "Who we are" page has been updated - click here to go to the new page. The CFOB Parliamentary Board page has also been brought up to date.
15 October 2010
Anne Main MP receives award from Bangladesh Caterers Association
Anne Main, MP for St Albans, has spoken of her delight at being awarded the Bangladesh Caterers Association’s Golden Jubilee Honour Award at the Association’s fiftieth anniversary celebrations.
The award, presented by Professor Syed Modasser Ali, Adviser to the Prime Minister of Bangladesh, recognises ‘outstanding support to multicultural Britain and lifetime services to the wider community’.
“It is a real honour to be singled out by the National Executive Committee of the Bangladesh Caterers Association for this interesting award. I am delighted."
“As chair of both the Britain-Bangladesh All-Party Parliamentary Group and the Conservative Friends of Bangladesh, I have always tried to do my bit to raise issues affecting the Bangladeshi community in St Albans, and Britain as a whole, and I will continue to do so.”
Picture below – Anne receives the award from Conservative Friends of Bangladesh Committee Member, Tony Lee, who collected it on her behalf.
25 January 2010
Outstanding Achievement Award Ceromony
Dr Charles Tannock MEP with CFOB Executive Members Hasan Ali Imam and Cllr Mehfuz Ahmed attended the Outstanding Achievement award ceromony organised by the Bangladesh High Commission for top performing British-Bangladeshi students at this years GCSE and A Levels examination in the UK.
Dr Charles Tannock MEP with A Level Students who have received awards:
Dr Charles Tannock MEP, HE Dr M. Sayeedur Rahman, Cllr Mehfuz Ahmed with a student:
Cllr Mehfuz Ahmed, Dr Charles Tannock MEP with Bangladesh Education Minister Nurul Islam Nahid MP and HE Dr M. Sayeedur Rahman Khan:
12 January 2010
Bangladesh Visit
Mark Field MP, deputy chairman of Britain - Bangladesh All Party Parliament Group visits Bangladesh in January 2010 with Tim Archer PPC Poplar & Limehouse, Cllrs Hussain and Ahmed.
