Government and international agency officials, journalists, beneficiaries, activists, and others on Sunday stressed promoting the village court at the grassroots level.
They were attending at a roundtable programme at a hotel in the capital on how to achieve success of the court for the grassroots people and marginalised communities.
Many women and marginalised communities, they said, including national minorities, physically challenged people, low-income people, and the hizra and dalit communities, are not aware of the village court services though the court project has stepped into its third phase since it was piloted from 2009 to 2015.
They made the remarks at the national-level roundtable titled 鈥楶romoting Gender-Sensitive and Inclusive Village Court Services for Rural Women and Marginalised Communities鈥�, organised under the Activating Village Courts in Bangladesh (Phase III) Project sponsored by the partnership of the European Union, the United Nations Development Programme, and the government of Bangladesh.
Addressing as the chief guest, women and children affairs ministry senior secretary Mamtaz Ahmed emphasised integrating the importance of village courts into national awareness programmes.
She said that positive results could be expected about public awareness of village courts if this awareness was included in women and child-focused projects and initiatives under different ministries.
鈥業t will help to increase public understanding and engagement,鈥� she said, adding that basic information about the village court can be incorporated in textbooks to raise awareness among people from an early age.
She expressed happiness as village courts were being operated in 4,453 union parishads in 61 districts across the country.
鈥榃e are working to put the village courts under a formal framework,鈥� she said, adding that the village courts will play a great role in solving disputes at lower costs and in shorter time than the traditional courts.
The Local Government Division of the Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives Ministry is implementing the project.
LGD secretary Rezaul Maksud Jahedi, in his opening remarks, said that it was important to ensure women鈥檚 active involvement in the justice process to make village courts stronger and more effective.
鈥楴eutral and timely justice for women requires coordinated efforts of the local government, the media and all the relevant ministries,鈥� he said.
Shamima Akter Shammi, gender analyst for the village court project, read out the keynote essay at the discussion session outlining the challenges women and marginalised groups faced in accessing justice.
She said, 鈥楾here is no alternative to active participation of women and marginalised communities in village courts for their empowerment in political, social, and family life as the village court is the first place to resolve legal problems in the village.鈥�
鈥楩rom February 2024 to August 2025, 1,36,808 cases were filed with village courts, of which 36,962 were filed by women while 14,214 cases were referred from the High Court,鈥� she added.
Bivash Chakraborty, coordinator of the project, presented an overview of the project鈥檚 progress and objectives, followed by remarks from senior government officials, civil society representatives and media professionals.
All participants stressed the importance of making village courts an inclusive platform by ensuring fast, accessible, and low-cost justice as well as engaging the media as a partner in spreading awareness of the project from the earliest stages.
UNDP Bangladesh senior governance specialist Tanvir Mahmud and assistant resident representative Anwarul Hoque were present at the discussion, which was moderated by LGD additional secretary and the village court project director Surayya Akhtar Jahan.
Bilkis Begum, a project beneficiary from Narsingdi district, Jatiya Mohila Sangstha executive director Shahana Sharmin, social welfare ministry joint secretary Hazera Khatun, women and children affairs ministry joint secretary Prakash Kanti Chowdhury, journalist Mir Masrur Zaman and Refugee and Migratory Movements Research Unit acting executive director Tasneem Siddiqui, among others, spoke at the roundtable.