Marking CEDAW Day, Bangladesh Mahila Parishad organized a discussion meeting at CIRDAP Auditorium in Dhaka on Thursday, where women's rights activists and prominent citizens demanded that Bangladesh withdraw its reservations on Articles 2 and 16(1)(c) of the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), and ensure women's equal rights to property and assets. The event was titled 'Withdraw Reservations from CEDAW Articles 2 and 16(1)(c); Ensure Equal Property Rights to Protect Women's Civic Rights.'

Speakers explained that Article 2 of CEDAW calls for legal and administrative measures to eliminate discrimination against women, while Article 16(1)(c) concerns equal rights within marriage and family relations, including matters related to divorce. They argued that without economic self-reliance, it is difficult to ensure women's full civic rights. The speakers emphasized that Bangladesh's continued reservations on these articles undermine the country's commitment to gender equality and called on the government to take concrete legal steps to withdraw them, alongside reforms guaranteeing women equal inheritance and property rights as a foundation for genuine empowerment and protection under the law.