Khandaker Jafor Ahmed, Research Associate, Centre for Climate Change and Environmental Research (C3ER), BRAC University, participated in the 28thInternational Population Conference held in Cape Town, South Africa. Statistics South Africa, on behalf of the Republic of South Africa, hosted the 28th International Population Conference of the International Union for the Scientific Study of Population (IUSSP) in Cape Town, South Africa at the Cape Town International Conference Centre (CTICC) from 29 October to 4 November 2017. The IUSSP International Population Conference was a major international event drawing over 2,000 scientists, policy makers and practitioners in the global population community to meet and address the issues of common concern. Khandaker Jafor Ahmed presented two of his research papers in the conference:
Oral presentation: Nexus between Extreme Weather Events, Marriage and Violence: A Study on Vulnerable Areas of Bangladesh
Poster presentation: Is fertility preference related with the perception of risk of infant dying, landholding and family type? A comparative study on vulnerable populations to extreme weather events in Bangladesh
The oral presentation delineated how extreme weather events (flood and tornado) induce the poverty incidence of household and sexual harassment of younger girls. It was found that the early marriage of girls is an economic survival strategy for the poor households.It was also demonstrated that extreme weather events introduce opportunities for violence, such as sexual violence, and therefore enhance reputational concerns along with the basic safety concerns. Thereby, extreme weather events encourage early marriage of daughters. The poster presentation depicted the impacts of extreme weather events (flood and cyclone) on the fertility preference of married women of reproductive ages (15-49). This study highlighted higher number of living children and higher fertility preference in the areas vulnerable to extreme weather events compared in the areas not vulnerable to any extreme weather events.