Bangladesh

Excerpted from:
Regional Update, Issue 9
July-September 2001
Disabled People's International Asia Pacific Region Office
http://www.dpiapro.org/html/publications/update/update_09.pdf

Political Access for People with Disabilities in Bangladesh

The International Foundation for Election Systems (IFES) has begun an effort in Bangladesh to promote greater participation by citizens with disabilities in national elections to beheld in the Fall of 2001. The core ofthis effort will be a program to recruit, train, and deploy approximately 300 citizens with disabilities to serve as domestic election observers. Approximately 100 citizens with disabilitieswill be deployed in Dhaka, andapproximately fifty (50) each in thedistricts of Bogra, Kushtia, Magura, and Natore. To implement this program, IFES is providing asubgrant to Action on Disability and Development (ADD), a Dhaka-based NGO, in the approximate amount of US$10,800. This program is funded under a grant to IFES from the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency. Since May 2001, IFES and ADD have worked closely to ensure that disability issues are addressed by a broader array of organizations involved in the elections. During the campaign, representatives of ADD have met with Ms. Kerry Ann Wills, Development Officer, Bangladesh Protibandhi Kallyan Somity.

(DPI-Bangladesh)