Mobilizing District Committee Members

15. Request committee members to make buildings accessible

DDRC DRPA Meeting Jan’19

The Persons with Disabilities Rights and Protection Act, 2013 (DRPA) requires that all public buildings and establishments be accessible to persons with disabilities. But many spaces have been designed and built without ensuring that they are barrier-free environments. Because other enforcement mechanisms to ensure the accessibility of public spaces are currently not very effective, district committees can play a significant role in supporting district-level DRPA implementation by removing barriers that DPOs identify in their communities.

DPOs should take advantage of individual meetings with district committee members and meetings of the full committee, where possible, to raise awareness among members of accessibility barriers in public venues that fall within their responsibilities. District Education Officers can take measures to ensure accesibility in schools, the Civil Surgeon in district health complexes, and the Chief Engineers of the Deparments of Public Works and of Local Govenrment and Engineering in many other government buildings. USAID’s EPD program has supported DPOs to raise issues of inaccessibility directly with district committee members who shortly after take positive measures to remove specific barriers that were identified by the DPOs.

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This domain was previously home to a joint report by NGDO, NCDW, and BLAST entitled “Current Status of Rights of Persons with Disabilities in Bangladesh: Legal and Grassroots Perspectives 2015,” produced with funding from the Disability Rights Fund. It is now available here.