Integrated efforts of all the government and non-government organizations concerned can be the crucial means of improving the living and livelihood conditions of the ethnic minorities and Dalit people in the region, particularly the vast Barind tract.
Gradually lowering the level of underground water and shrinking working scopes in the dried area are posing a serious threat to the life of the community people.
So, there is no way but to joint efforts to ensure fundamental rights for them to achieve SDGs through overcoming the adverse situation.
Government officials and development activists came up with the observation while addressing an advocacy meeting at the office conference hall of Divisional Commissioner in Rajshahi on Wednesday.
Advocacy Platform organized the divisional level meeting supported by the Switzerland Embassy in Bangladesh discussing and devising ways and means on how to make social security and legitimate rights easier for the communities of plain marginalized, ethnic minorities and Dalit.
Heads and representatives of nine Swiss-organizations and leaders and members of different district level advocacy platforms joined the meeting. Divisional Commissioner Dr Dewan Muhammad Humayun Kabir and Deputy Inspector General of Police Alamgir Rahman addressed the meeting as chief and special guests respectively with Saibun Nessa, Partnership Manager and Senior Programme Advise of HEKS Eper, in the chair.
Additional Commissioner Tarafder Akter Jamil, Country Director of HEKS Dora Chowdhury, Deputy Country Director of Swiss Red Cross Sanjib Biswash, Chief Executive Officer of DASCOH Foundation Akramul Haque and Associate Professor Habibur Rahman from the Department of Anthropology at Rajshahi University also spoke.
During his keynote presentation, Bimol Chandra Rajoar, district president of Advocacy platform, gave an overview of the present living and livelihood conditions of ethnic minorities and dalit and marginalized communities.
He also put forward a set of recommendations on how to build an equal society by eliminating all forms of discrimination against them on the basis of equality, dignity, prosperity and security.
In his remarks, Commissioner Dr Humayun Kabir assured all possible support to mainstream the communities of plain marginalized, ethnic minorities and Dalit through necessary development in phases.
