MANIKGANJ, Bangladesh, May 9 (Xinhua) -- Mothers in Bangladesh have sacrificed their own happiness for their children's bright future while having few complaints about the daily ordeals they undergo.

Mosammat Lipia Khatun is one such working mother who works at a brickfield in Manikganj, some 63 km northwest of the capital city.

"We're working hard for a better future for our two children," Khatun told Xinhua when countries around the world were observing the Mother's Day on Sunday.

Khatun, who joined the brickfield work after leaving behind her parents, brothers and sisters in her ancestral house some 200 km from Dhaka, said she and her husband are working hard just to see their children smile.

Reshma Khatun, another mother working in the brickfield from Khulna's Naxa village under Koira sub-district, said she does not want her children to do what she is doing at the brickfield.

"We're working hard to make our children well educated," said Reshma Khatun who earns less than 4 U.S. dollars a day.

The United Nations General Assembly 2021 has adopted a resolution to graduate three nations, namely Bangladesh, Laos and Nepal, from the least developed country (LDC) category to the developing country grouping, a major milestone demonstrating the countries' significant development progress.

Bangladesh is now scheduled to officially become a developing country in 2026 as the U.N. committee recommended that the country should get five years, instead of three, to prepare for the transition due to the impact of COVID-19 on its economy.

The Bangladesh government enacted the "Parents Maintenance Act" in 2013 to deal with the increasing trend of negligence and abuses of elderly mothers, who make immense contributions to building a better future for their children and bringing economic prosperity to the country with a population of around 170 million.

Despite poor wages and working conditions, another woman worker Lucky Khatun is struggling for a secured future for her and her daughters in the country.

"I work hard here because I have two kids. I'm working for both the children," said the woman who lives in a tiny room near the brickfield.

In recent years, the country's economic transformation has largely been driven by social changes initiated by women.

In the last decade, Bangladesh is among countries in South Asia that has increased female employment while also cutting the wage gap between men and women significantly, says a World Bank report Voices to Choices: Bangladesh's Journey in Women's Economic Empowerment, released in 2019.

The female labor force participation rate increased to 36 percent from 26 percent between 2003 and 2016, according to the report. Enditem

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