Civil society activists, leaders from marginalised communities, former policymakers, and government officials convened for the closing ceremony of the Promoting Advocacy and Rights activity at the Amari Hotel in Dhaka on Wednesday.
Youth and women leaders from marginalised communities, including dalit, cobbler, and slum communities, presented advocacy achievements of citizen-led, cross-sector partnerships between civil society, government, and the private sector to improve their communities鈥� priority issues.
Saidur Rahman, director general of the NGO affairs bureau, said, 鈥業 applaud the PAR鈥檚 civil society achievements and am hopeful that there will be support for similar initiatives moving forward.鈥�
Alena Tansey, the USAID democracy, human rights, and governance office director provided remarks at the event noting, 鈥業 hope we continue to leverage this powerful model for bringing citizens, civil society organisations, and local government together to protect human rights, advocate for progressive reforms, and pave the way towards greater prosperity for all people.鈥�
Barrister Shameem Haider Patwary and Barrister Rumeen Farhana also shared their recommendations for moving the priority issues of marginalised communities forward.
Patwary said, 鈥榃e are thankful for the bridge that PAR established between government, civil society and the marginalised people. The anti-discrimination law must be passed as soon as possible.鈥�
Rumeen Farhana said, 鈥業 am truly inspired by the new Bangladesh that discourages discrimination. I hope that these groups continue to work together to ensure their voices to prevent discrimination are heard.鈥�
