Rights of Dalit’s

Project Location: Keshabpur upazila of Jashore district and Narail Sadar upazila of Narail district
Project Period: July 2023- December 2025
Financed by: Islamic Relief (Sweden)
Total Amount:  BDT 25,694,300.00

Direct Beneficiaries: 1,934

The project intervenes in group formation at the district and sub-district level, union and capacity building in leadership, advocacy, gender, group mobilization, accountability, enhancing responsiveness and sensitization to duty bearers, creating massive awareness of dalit community peoples on their entitlements, building linkages between dalit right holders and service providers, providing support to human rights abuse victims, and building dalit peoples access to information. This collective intervention will contribute to the effectiveness of Bangladesh’s Constitutional provisions for inequality, reducing discrimination, enactment of the anti-discrimination act and its implementation, enhancing the application of RTI law, the child marriage restraint act, safety-net distribution policy, and disadvantaged community development policy in Bangladesh. These changes in policy structure will bring sustainable improvements to the human rights situation of Dalit people.

Goal:

Reduced caste and gender-based discrimination in society in the southern part of Bangladesh.

Sub-goal:

1. Enhanced awareness within the targeted Dalit community on their basic rights and also on gender-related issues and other norms
2. Increased access to government services and civic engagement among Dalit people

Activities:

Activity 1.1: 5 Nos. Networking Building Workshop with a wider platform.

Activity 1.2: Organize 5 batches of capacity-building training for rights holders, duty bearers, and youth forum members and stakeholders on advocacy/networking, human rights, mobilization, leadership, and social accountability mainstreaming.

Activity-1.3: Facilitate fifteen (6 nos.) Interface dialogue meetings between community and service providers that will produce a joint action plan (JNA).

Activity-1.4: Organize two workshops to develop/refreshers at the Divisional Dalit Youth Platform.

Activity-1.5: Facilitate a 5-district workshop and a 25-district coordination meeting to develop a Dalit youth platform.

Activity-1.6: Facilitate three events on day observation (International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination and/or World Dignity Day, human rights day).

Activity-1.7: Project Inception Meeting (5 nos. meeting)

Activity 1.8: Facilitate sub-district and union level (12 at sub-district and 54 at union level) consultation and mobilization meetings for developing Dalit youth platforms

Activity-1.9: Staff capacity-building orientation and training (3 batches in three years): Foundation training (organizational policy, code of conduct, safeguard, financial management, project), basic human rights, advocacy, gender, social inclusion, political economy, TOT on advocacy, mobilization, communication and facilitation skills, RTI, governance, social accountability tools, etc. 15–18 staff members will participate in each batch.

Activity 1.10: Monthly Staff Coordination Meeting

Activity-2.1: Facilitate 10 batches of training (two days long) for 250 youth and DCG leaders on roles and responsibilities, human rights, gender equality, public hearings (SA Tools), and others.

Activity-2.2: Facilitate 20 batches of life skill training (two days long) for Dalit youths on social gender norms and values, puberty, child marriage, and others.

Activity-2.3: Community initiatives for rights Claims Program by Youth Forum: Meeting, Demonstration, and Mass Gathering to Address Rights Concerns for Dalits and Development Initiatives (Total of 30 Events).

Activity 2.4: Facilitate a workshop with potential youth and journalists to sensitize them on Dalit rights and mobilize them to write reports in newspapers and media. (2 workshops at divisional level, 30 participants per)

Activity-2.5: Yearly students gathering for motivation to continue their study, lessons learned on GBV, and education materials support for extremely poor Dalit students to reduce dropouts (15 gatherings, total of 580 students).

Activity-2.6: Publication of IEC materials: project folders, brochures (5000), and human rights awareness message delivery among the community through the printing of umbrellas (150 pieces) or masks (5500). Flip Chart printing with the Situation of Dalit, their struggle, way forward, and legal protection to be free from discrimination as an awareness tool in the courtyard meeting

2.7 News magazine 6 times on HR situation (6000), 2.8 Joint Action Plan (JNA) with mini billboard installation (5 nos.),

Activity-2.9: Campaign: 16 days of observation on protesting gender-based violence (15 events x 100 participants per event)

Debate Competition

Drawing Competition

Demonstration with a placard, a festoon, T-shirts

2.10 Issue-based Courtyard meeting at the community level with DCGs and rights holders to make them aware of their rights. 960 meetings (20 per meeting) in 32 communities.

Activity-3.1: Organize sixty (60) union and Union & Upazila level public hearings (social accountability tools) between community and service providers to enhance accountability and transparency to include Dalits in development initiatives and supports.

Activity-3.2: Linkage-building meetings with different actors by the youth platform as part of need-based advocacy. (45 meetings/10 participants per)

Activity-3.3: Arrange a TV talk show (media advocacy) for gay rights concerns and an anti-discrimination law (proposed). By selecting a national TV channel and broadcasting it. (1 talk and 5 participants)

Activity-3.4: Round table meeting with media and policy influential to influence the policy agenda for Dalit’s inclusion and publish the report in a newspaper by selecting a renowned national daily newspaper. (1 meeting, per meeting, 35 participants, 50,000 copies of newspaper circulation)

Activity 3.5: Organize a dalit convention to explore the human rights of dalit peoples. (1 convention, 150 participants)

Activity-3.6: Organize one regional dalit convention to explore human rights and address stigma and discrimination among rights holders with the participation of government officials, local development and political activists, other networks and committees, the media, local citizen committees, dalit rights holders, etc. (1 regional convention, 100 participants)

Activity 3.7: Exposure Visit within the country to exchange views and learn from Dalit staff, right holders, youth leaders, and citizen leaders. (1 time in the project period, 5–10 staff, Dalit activists, citizen forum)

Activity 3.8: Community Advocacy Initiatives Program by Youth Forum (16 Events).