Govt firm on upholding disable people’s rights

Staff Reporter :
The government is committed to upholding the rights of people with disabilities and the country’s national development strategies and policies are aligned with the targets of the SDGs, said Zuena Aziz, Principal Coordinator (SDG Affairs) at the Prime Minister’s Office.
She was speaking at a seminar on “Transformative solutions for inclusive development: the role of innovation in fueling an accessible and equitable world” organized by UNDP and Disability Alliance jointly at the Bangabandhu International Conference Center (BICC) in the capital on Sunday.
Zuena further said, “The 8-Five Year Plan and the National Social Security Strategy have incorporated disability inclusion. The government is putting the best efforts to make sure people with disabilities are not left behind and are considered within the country’s progressing development planning.”
Amrita Rejina Rozario, Convener of the Disability Alliance on SDGs Bangladesh and Country Director of Sightsavers, said, “The government has made eleven commitments in the Global Disability Summit 2022 which is indeed a significant progress for us.
Dr Md Kawsar Ahmed, General Economics Division Member (Secretary) of the Planning Commission of Bangladesh said, “Disability inclusion is a priority area for government, and therefore, the current 8-Five Year Plan has considered the needs of the people with disabilities.”
Aminul Arifeen, National Project Manager of UNDP and Ayon Debnath, Advocacy, Communication Coordinator & Campaign Lead of Sightsavers have jointly presented the keynote paper and stressed the need of transformative solutions for inclusive development for building an accessible and equitable Bangladesh.
Despite the fact that the government of Bangladesh has widened the social protection schemes over the past decade, many of the challenges facing people with disabilities remain unmet, they said.
While the COVID-19 pandemic has unleashed a human development crisis and that the effects of the crisis are unequally distributed, and people who have already been?marginalised?on the grounds of disability or gender have been disproportionately affected, they said.
This makes the need for action more urgent, so that the progress made in recent years isn’t undone, they added.
Tahera Jabeen, Social Development Adviser at British High Commission in Dhaka and Asif Kashem and Senior Programme Manager at the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) of the Australian High Commission in Dhaka were present as the guests of honour.