Publication

Towards Equality and Inclusion: A Review of Laws and Policies in Bangladesh, Chapter 1: Laws and Policies that Discriminate against People with Disabilities in Bangladesh, Dhaka, 2023, Bangladesh Legal Aid and Services Trust (BLAST)

Mobilizing Disabled People’s Organizations to Implement Bangladesh’s Disability Law, Oxford Journal of Human Rights Practice, January 2022

Matthew S Smith, Md Rejaul Karim Siddiquee, Michael Ashley Stein, Janet E Lord, Mobilizing Disabled Peoples’ Organizations to Implement Bangladesh’s Disability Law, Journal of Human Rights Practice, Volume 13, Issue 2, July 2021, Pages 433–445, https://doi.org/10.1093/jhuman/huab034

Abstract

Six years after ratifying the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, Bangladesh enacted the Rights and Protection of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2013, which recognized enforceable rights for Bangladeshis with disabilities for the first time and created a novel complaints procedure for seeking remedies outside of court. Yet little had been done to raise awareness of the Rights and Protection of Persons with Disabilities Act’s rights or its novel procedure, until a collaboration between BlueLaw International, an inclusive development firm, and three Bangladeshi organizations with national scope to empower local disabled peoples’ organizations to advocate for implementation of the law in 7 of Bangladesh’s 64 districts. After three years, this team had filed the first 22 complaints under the novel Section 36 procedure before district-level committees created by the Rights and Protection of Persons with Disabilities Act. Although to date the outcomes of these complaints have been mixed, disabled peoples’ organization efforts to activate this mechanism have yielded valuable lessons regarding effective advocacy strategies that can inform future disabled peoples’ organization-led efforts. Although prospects for tangible governmental buy-in for effective, countrywide enforcement of the Rights and Protection of Persons with Disabilities Act may be dim for now, disabled peoples’ organizations have demonstrated their capacity to contribute meaningfully to operationalizing this important vehicle for domestic implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

DPO Advocacy Handbook

This booklet provides a capsule summary of the most important sections of the Persons with Disabilities Rights and Protection Act, 2013 in a small, easy-to-carry publication. It describes how what disabilities are covered by the Act, how to obtain disability identification cards, the enumerated rights recognized by the Act, the five committees created by the Act, and the process for filing applications for compensation for violations of the enumerated rights under Section 36 of the Act. View the handbook here.

Lawyers Technical Manual

This manual high-quality technical guidance on the Disabled Persons Rights and Protection Act, 2013 for members of the legal community that has been reviewed and vetted through focus group discussions and consultations with legal practitioners. Among other essential topics, the manual describes what disabilities are covered by the Act, how to obtain disability identification cards, the enumerated rights recognized by the Act, the five committees created by the Act, and the process for filing applications for compensation for violations of the enumerated rights under Section 36 of the Act. View the manual here.