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অপরাজেয় বাংলা :: Aparajeo Bangla

NHRC and BRAC signs MoU

Towards a disability inclusive, accessible and sustainable tomorrow

১৭:১৪, ১৪ ফেব্রুয়ারি ২০২১

আপডেট: ১৭:১৪, ১৪ ফেব্রুয়ারি ২০২১

৪৩০

NHRC and BRAC signs MoU

Towards a disability inclusive, accessible and sustainable tomorrow

National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) and BRAC has signed an agreement to ensure welfare, protection and accessibility for cross sections of people, including the persons with disabilities. The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed on Sunday (February 14) morning at an event organized at NHRC office in Karwan Bazar in the capital.

Narayan Chandra Sarkar, Secretary National Human Rights Commission Bangladesh (NHRC) and Asif Saleh, executive director, BRAC signed the MoU on behalf of the respective parties. The memorandum aimed to strengthen the partnership and collaboratively work towards ensuring accessibility of persons with disabilities in public transport, infrastructure and information, a press release said.

Under this MoU, the two organisations will jointly work with the aim to ensure increased access of the persons with disability in both the physical and digital space, to the benefit of cross sections of people. It will contribute to ensuring that people with disabilities face one less problem as soon as they step out of their comfort zone. 

This collaboration is focused on the generation of evidence, accumulation of best practices from the world, establishing knowledge repositories and platforms of cooperation, standards and guidelines for accessibility, and creating nationwide awareness for an inclusive society.

In his speech, BRAC executive director Asif Saleh said BRAC is working institutionally and nationally towards inclusive development of people with disabilities. In future, BRAC is committed to assist the government in formulation of disability friendly policies and their implementation.  
 
NHRC chairman Nasima Begum, NDC, said lack of accessibility is the major problem for the people with disabilities. Sensitivity and humanitarian initiatives are mostly needed to solve the problem, rather than a huge amount of money or manpower. For this, NHRC has taken up initiatives to ensure an ‘Accessible Dhaka City’ for the people with disabilities.

Thanking BRAC for technical assistance to the initiative, she said the MoU signed today opens up new avenues for both the parties to work jointly in the issue. She expected that BRAC will play a key role in policy making level through maintaining liaison with all the government offices that work for development of people with disabilities.

Centre for Disability in Development (CDD) executive director A.H.M Noman Khan expressed gratitude to BRAC for creating opportunities to implement auditing about accessibility of disabled people in the footpath, government hospital and High Court building. 

According to the Household Income and Expenditure Survey (HIES) 2016, the percentage of persons with disabilities is 13.09% in Bangladesh. Since disability is a continuous occurrence and far from a homogeneous phenomenon, a holistic approach is essential to continue the inclusion of persons with disability and building a tomorrow that is accessible and sustainable.

The Government of Bangladesh is committed to work towards building a disability inclusive Bangladesh as noted in its Constitution along with ratifying the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD), enactment of the Disability Rights and Protection Act (2013) and development of the National Strategy for Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities in Skills Development (2013). 

NHRC is the national advocacy institution for human rights promotion and protection of the people. It is committed to the accomplishment of human rights in a broader sense, including dignity, worth and freedom of every human being. Since inclusiveness is also a core value of BRAC, and it has been supporting marginalized people to empower them, the joint-collaboration will further expedite the process of building Bangladesh without leaving anyone behind, especially persons with disabilities. 

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