UNFPA Bangladesh Awards Midwifery Scholarships to Indigenous Girls from Chittagong Hill Tracts to improve maternal and sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) in the region

In a significant development toward equitable healthcare, UNFPA Bangladesh has awarded scholarships to seven indigenous girls from the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) to study midwifery. A region, comprising of three districts, Bandarban, Khagrachari and Rangamati and more than eleven ethnic communities, all with different language and culture, where life’s rugged beauty contrasts sharply with the challenges of accessing basic healthcare, these scholarships will go a long way in improving equity in maternal and sexual and reproductive health in the Hills.

Offered to three girls each from Khagrachari and Bandarban and one from Rangamati, these seven girls are from some of the most marginalized ethnic communities of the Chittagong Hill Tracts. Once graduated and deployed in the health facilities of their communities, these girls will be the answer to high number of home deliveries in the Hills.

Health system in the Hill Tracts have struggled for generations to provide quality maternity and SRHR services due to the shortage of the health staff. Remoteness, and language and cultural barriers deter the health workers from other districts to work here. Unfortunately, there are a very few health workers and particularly, midwives, from Chittagong Hill Track in the national health system, which is the reason why many health facilities in the region are non-functional. This initiative, by supporting the local girls to enter the midwifery profession, will bridge this gap.