Promoting social inclusion of disabled persons thru empowerment

Amir Khashru Mahmud Chowdhury exchanging opinon with the participants of a programme of Training on Peacebuilder Advocate With Disabilities at the Bangladesh Protibondhi Kalyan Somity (BPKS) on Monday.

The state should invest not only economically but also humanly, mentally, politically and morally to empower disabled persons to enjoy equal rights in the society.

BNP's standing committee member Amir Khashru Mahmud Chowdhury said this pointing out that his party believed in the politics of production and wanted every person to contribute towards this and have a share in the distribution of wealth.

He was exchanging opinon with the participants of a programme of Training on Peacebuilder Advocate With Disabilities at the Bangladesh Protibondhi Kalyan Somity (BPKS) head office complex at Dakskhin Khan in the capital on Monday. The week-long programme that will continue up to 19 September is being participated by leaders of disabled peoples' organisations from across Bangladesh.

Experts on peacebuilding from various universities, think tanks and environmental organisations are conducting training sessions spread over the seven days. Amir Khashru Mahmud Chowdhury said his party was committed to empowering and ensuring inclusion of disabled persons and would do all that is needed for this.

Abdus Sattar Dulal, executive director and CEO of BPKS traced the background of the skills develolment and empowerment of disabled persons from his organisation since the early 1980s and said it has now about 2000 grassroots organisatioins across Bangladesh serving disabled persons.

He said that services to disabled persons cannot be properly done without their participation. They thus need to be given equal opportunities in jobs with required qualifications, represented in various policy-making and elected bodies to help tune development that includes and ensures access of persons with disabilities.

Abdus Sattar Dulal pointed out that persons with disabilities are doing well in general as well as technical education, in the acquisition of skills and should not be left behind. A UN Human Rights Champion he said the millennium development goals (MDGs) turned into sustainable development goals (SDGs) at the instance of organisations of disabled persons which coined the expression no one should be left behind.

Amir Khashru Mahmud Chowdhury undesrcored the need for framing policy guidelines for empowering all people to become productive. In this connection he stressed the need for updating the Policy on Disabled Persons adopted by BNP chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia's government way back in 1995.

He said that the BNP leadership looked forward to not only to securing the demographic dividend because a bulk of the people of Bangladesh is in the young age group, but also longevity dividend by helping keep old people remain active in productive activities.

The oponion exchange was also addressed by Mostafa Kamal Majumder, editor, GreenWatch Dhaka, Zia Haider, adviser to the BNP chairperson and Khademul Islam, a visually disabled distinguished lawyer of Chattogram who chaired the session. - GreenWatch News Desk