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PROFILE OF BANGLADESH SYSTEM CHANGE ADVOCACY NETWORK (B-SCAN)

Name of the organization: Bangladesh System Change Advocacy Network (B-SCAN)

Nature of the organization: Self Help Group/NGO

Registration Status: Social Welfare and NGO Affairs Bureau registrations being applied for.

Organizational History

B-SCAN started on 17th July 2010 by a number of social activists as an online group in Facebook. The initiative
quickly gathered momentum and many joined hands from the civil society, professionals, development
advocates, therapists, members of families having persons with disabilities etc. There are now about a hundred
active members and total membership (formal and non-formal) is about 700. There has been excellent support
from the development & private sectors, civil society and government agencies. We feel confident that we will be
able to achieve the primary objectives within the next ten years, 2020, as planned.

Ad Hoc Committee:

B-SCAN is now being managed by an ad hoc committee as described below –

a) President- Sabrina Sultana

b) General Secretary- Salma Mahbub

c) Joint Secretary- Syeda Farzana Sultana

d) Publication Secretary- BELTA

d) Treasurer- Oronno Anam

e) Organizing Secretary- Morshed Khan

f) Executive Member- Md. Hasan Milon

g) Executive Member- Selima Sharmin

Advisory Board of B-SCAN

A number of honorable members of the civil society are currently guiding B-SCAN. The honorable members of
this board are -

Ex. Adviser Late. Mahbubul Ashraf


Secretary and Coordinator, Association of the Welfare of the Disabled People (AWDP) Vice President,
National Forums of Organizations Working with Disabled (NFOWD)

Dr.Subhagata Choudhury - Director, Laboratory Services, BIRDEM

Asq Sadeque - Director, BIRDEM


Dr. ABM Nasir - Ph.D. Associate Professor of Economics, School of Business North Carolina Central University

Ferdousi Priyabhashini - Sculptor, Social and Cultural Activist

Goal, Strategy and Objectives

The goal of B-SCAN is to facilitate necessary changes in policies including implementation, for mainstreaming of
the disability issues, so that all people in Bangladesh with disability may lead productive and honorable lives free
of discrimination.

B-SCAN initially has four basic strategies to bring about these positive changes –

 Creating mass awareness on disability issues.

 Empowering the disabled population.

 Ensuring/protecting the rights of the disabled population.

 Support self-reliance through training, capacity building, income generation, employment etc.

Four thrust/thematic areas have been initially selected for operationalizing the strategic vision –

 Education

 Employment/IGA

 Supportive transport system

 Universal access

The preliminary objectives include attaining measurable positive changes in the thematic areas through selected
strategies within 2020 – ten years.
Bangladesh Situation Analysis

Disability and poverty are intricately linked. Disability causes poverty and poverty exacerbates disability – people
with disabilities are among the poorest and most vulnerable. Global estimates indicate that at least ten percent
of the world’s population lives with some form of disability. In the South Asia Region, a vast number of people
are disabled and lack basic support such as access to social safety nets, education, health services, and gainful
employment. Little or no data is available – disability issues are given low priority or are excluded from official
statistics. Many forms of disability are difficult to capture in statistics, often due to under-reporting. The incidence
of disability is increasing due to conflicts, disasters, malnutrition and the HIV/AIDS pandemic.

The societal cost of exclusion is high with long-lasting consequences. Short-term solutions to poverty
alleviation and improved socio-economic status, as well as political inertia, continue to hamper long-term
progress. A shift in perception of disability is emerging globally, and in the current global trend, Disability and
Development is gaining ground as a new area of focus

Over 4.5 million children in Bangladesh live with various disabilities, including learning disabilities, speech
impairment and behavioral problems. Most of the handicapped children have, however, remained unidentified
and undiagnosed and are excluded from health, education and social services.

Over 25 children in every 1,000 have learning difficulties and only four percent school-aged children with
disabilities are enrolled in educational institutions. The figures were reported in surveys ahead of the second
regional seminar on childhood disability, to be held in Dhaka. Professor Sultana S. Zaman, vice-president of the
seminar organizing committee, said professionals and policymakers tended to overlook several disabilities that
affect many children. Cognitive disabilities, speech impairment, as well as language, communication and
behavioral problems are coming to the forefront.

About 35 years after adoption of the constitution enshrining equal rights and status for every citizen, around one
crore disabled people across the country remain deprived of fundamental rights due mainly to government
negligence.

Though a law titled “Bangladesh Disability Welfare Act, 2001” was passed in 2001, it could not be implemented
in the last six years in absence of a set of rules.

Legal experts say that the act itself is fundamentally flawed and it calls for some major amendments. It does not
even have clear-cut definitions of disability.
The non-government organizations working with disability have already proposed a number of amendments to
the law. Their proposals were based on comparisons between the disability laws in different countries.

In the developed countries, the state ensures basic rights and status for the people with disabilities. It provides
them with allowance and jobs in both private and public sectors.

“In our country, successive governments had been indifferent to meeting the needs of people with disabilities.
But the present one is working sincerely to secure the rights of the disabled people,” said MA Hye Howlader,
social welfare secretary and also a vice-president of the national coordination committee for the disabled
persons. Talking to The Daily Star recently, he said, “Though late we are doing the job. Earlier, the government
officials won’t even bother to attend meetings of the national coordination committee regularly. “I hope the rules
that have already been drafted will be approved by this year.” He added, “We are aware of the proposed
amendments. Our country has signed the United Nation’s convention on the rights of the persons with disability
and the agreement now awaits ratification by the advisory committee.”

That the government does not have the exact number of people with disabilities and that no public census has
ever been done in this regard bear testimony to government apathy over the years.

The people with disabilities have troubles even getting registered for national identity cards.

According to a census conducted a couple of years ago by different NGOs the number of people with disabilities
in the country stands at 90 lakh.

The situation in education sector is another example of government negligence. So far only 1,335 children with
disabilities have access to education. SWID, a non-government organization, provides education facilities for
another 7,500 children. For the programme, it receives 80% of its budget from the government.

“People make fun of my child when we go on an outing while the government has been fiddling with our miseries
by neglecting the issue over the years,” said Ayesha, mother of a physically disabled boy.

Experts say the basic rights of the disabled people could not yet be ensured as only social welfare ministry is
entrusted with the job whereas at least 30 ministries need to work in this regard.

Access to special treatment and training facilities, rehabilitation and employment could not be confirmed as the
ministries like education, labor and employment have not been made legally responsible for dealing with the
issue.

The government even could not begin its work with the disabled at district and upazila levels as the disability law
does not involve the local government and rural development ministry in the task. The government, however,
has formulated an action plan this year involving 40 ministries with the work for the disabled populace, but the
experts believe it would not be of much help as the ministries have yet to be made legally bound to perform the
duties in this regard. Referring to different flaws in the Bangladesh Disability Welfare Act, 2001, legal experts
say the act defines disability rather ambiguously. Besides, it does not specify the diverse needs and rights of the
people with disability.

“If the rights were specified in the law and action against violator of the rights made clear, the issue will become
legal rather than only constitutional,” said Supreme Court lawyer Dr Naim Ahmed.

The law describes disability descriptively and flatly. It should have had a more complete description containing
income status of the disabled people and the reasons for their inability to earn.
Besides, the experts say, the law does not differentiate between a mental patient and a person with mental
disability. The difference is that with proper medication and treatment a mental patient could be cured while
mental disability is incurable, they added.

To shed light on the shortcomings of the disability welfare law, legal experts mentioned examples of laws in
different countries. For instance, the law in Sri Lanka specifies the rights for the disabled people.

In the United Kingdom (UK) it is unlawful for organizations to discriminate (treat a disabled person less
favorably, for reasons related to the person’s disability, without justification) in employment; access to goods,
facilities, services; managing, buying or renting land or property; education. Businesses must make “reasonable
adjustments” to their policies or practices, or physical aspects of their premises, to avoid indirect discrimination.

In the United States, the government extends protection to anyone with (A) a physical or mental impairment that
substantially limits one or more of the major life activities of an individual, (B) a record of such an impairment or
(C) being regarded as having such impairment.

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ensures a number of financial and care support services including
Incapacity Benefit and Disability Living Allowance.

It also includes that organizations like retail businesses, movie theatres, and restaurants must make “reasonable
accommodation” arrangements for people with different needs.

Unfortunately, the disability act in Bangladesh does not provide for action against those violating or abusing the
rights of the disabled people. It does not have any provision ensuring accountability of government officials and
employees.

The act also does not say anything clearly about employment or rehabilitation of the disabled segment of the
population. It does not have any provision for building up trained manpower to help them.

The government has a 10% quota of public service jobs for those with disabilities. But the private institutions
have yet to be made legally obliged to ensure access to employment for them.

The prevalence of disability is believed to be high for reasons relating to overpopulation, extreme poverty,
illiteracy, lack of awareness, and above all, lack of medical care and services. Although disability is a major
social and economic phenomenon in Bangladesh, there is very little reliable data available on this issue,
especially in the absence of a comprehensive national survey on persons with disabilities. The Government of
Bangladesh (GOB) surveys in 1982, 1986 and 1998 estimated a national prevalence rate of disability at 0.64%,
0.5% and 1.60% respectively. Action Aid-Bangladesh and Social Assistance and Rehabilitation for the
Physically Vulnerable (SARPV) put the disabled population at 8.8% of the total population. Bangladesh
Protibondhi Kalayan Samiti records 7.8%. Dr. Julian Francis, in a report prepared for the Aid Management Office
(AMOD) of the Overseas Development Administration (ODA) of the British Government in 1995, estimated the
Person with Disabilities population to be 9 million, of which no less than 7 million live in rural areas. Most of the
estimates generally appear to be underrated, sometimes excessively. The WHO’s global estimate predicts
approximately 10% of all people have a disability of one kind or another. This is also considered to be true in
Bangladesh with some sources quoting a higher disability rate in rural Bangladesh.8
In recent years, there have been some improvements and positive trends as a result of the efforts at both
government and non-government levels, however the overall situation of Persons with Disabilities is still far from
satisfactory. In fact, they are still granted lowest priority in service provision in Bangladesh. The following
explains the current situation of each issue associated with handicaps, impairment and disability in Bangladesh.
The Bangladeshi Parliament adopted its first comprehensive disability legislation, the Bangladesh Persons with
Disability Welfare Act-2001, on April 2001. It includes the following definition and identification of persons with
disability:

1. Persons with disabilities are those who,

i. have physical disabilities either congenitally, as a result of disease or accident, or have become
physically incapacitated or mentally imbalanced due to maltreatment or any other reasons,
ii. have become incapacitated or are unable to lead a normal life, either partially or fully as a result of
such disabilities or mental impairment,

Those who have disabilities described hereunder shall be included in the meaning and scope of the definition
under section 1 of the Disability Welfare Act.

2. Persons with visual impairment mean those who have,


a. no vision in one eye,
b. no vision in both eyes,
c. visual acuity not exceeding 6/60 or 20/200 (Snellen) in the better eye using corrective lenses; or
d. limitation of the 'field of vision' subtending an angle of 20° (degrees) or worse;

3. Persons with physical disabilities refer to those who have,


a. lost either one or both hand(s),
b. lost sensation, partly or totally, in either hand, or have weak sensation that the situations stated under
subsection 1(ⅰ) and (ⅱ) are applicable to him/her
c. lost either one or both leg(s),
d. lost sensation, partly or totally, in either or both leg(s), or weak sensation that the situations stated
under subsection 1 (ⅰ) and (ⅱ) are applicable to him/her
e. have physical deformity, or
f. have permanently lost physical equilibrium owing to neuro-disequilibrium/ imbalance

4. Persons with a "hearing impairment," means those who have loss of hearing capacity in the better ear in the
conversation range of frequencies at 40 decibels (hearing unit) or
more, damaged, or ineffective hearing abilities

5. Persons with "speech impairment," are those who have loss, damage, partially or wholly, or dysfunction of
one's capacity in pronouncing meaningful vocabulary and sounds

6. Persons with "mental disability," are those who;


a. one’s mental development is not at the same level of his/her chronological age or whose IQ (Intelligent
Quotient) is below the normal range, or
b. loss or damage, partially or wholly, of mental balance

7. Person who has multiple disabilities suffers from more than one type of impairment stated above
Bangladesh is a full member of the World Health Organization (WHO). At present it is a member of the WHO
Executive Board. Bangladesh has adopted the WHO definitions and classification of disability considering these
definitions and classification most relevant and consistent with the country situation. (Refer to Technical Notes
for more details)
SOME KEY GRAPHICAL DATA ON DISABILITY IN BANGLADESH
THE POLICY CONTEXT OF DISABILITY
International Framework

The Biwako Millennium Framework priority areas

The United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) proclaimed the
decade 1993-2002 to be the Asian and Pacific Decade of Disabled Persons. In 1993 The Government of
Bangladesh adopted The United Nations Standard Rules on the Equalization of Opportunities for Persons
with Disabilities. In May 2002 the ESCAP adopted the resolution “Promoting an inclusive, barrier-free and
rights-based society for persons with disabilities in Asia and the Pacific.” It is structured to supplement the
UN Millennium Development Goals and it proclaims an extension of the Asian and Pacific Decade of Disabled
Persons, 1993-2002, for another decade, 2003-2012. The decade’s action oriented guidelines for Governments,
known as the Biwako Millennium Framework, was developed to conclude the first Decade of Disabled
Persons and set priorities for the next decade. The Framework outlines 7 priority areas for action towards
realizing the ESCAP resolution. Above is a graphic presentation of the Framework.

National Framework The Bangladesh Constitution states that ‘no citizen shall, on grounds only of religion, race,
caste, sex, or place of birth be subjected to any disability, liability, restriction or condition with regard to access
to any place of public entertainment, or resort, or admission to any educational institution’. In 1995 the first
National Policy for the Disabled was approved by the Government. The policy mainstreamed disability into the
country’s development agenda. An Action Plan to operationalize this Policy was approved in 1996. In 2001 a
comprehensive disability legislation entitled ‘The Bangladesh Persons with Disability Welfare Act’ was adopted
by the Parliament. This document includes revised definitions of various disabilities, the formation, roles and
responsibilities of legislative bodies at national and district levels, as well as the coordination between them18.
The Act lists 10 specific priority areas: (1) Disability prevention, (2) Identification, (3) Curative treatment, (4)
Education, (5) Health Care, (6) Rehabilitation and employment, (7) Transport and communication, (8) Culture,
(9) Social Security, and (10) Self-help organizations

An Inter-ministerial task Force has developed a draft national action plan to implement the Disability Welfare Act
2001, which is currently in 18 different line ministries for review (see Annex 11).

District level action plans are in the process of being formed in the cross-sectoral District Disability Welfare
Committees established under the 2001 Disability Welfare Act. Up to now nine districts have developed an
action plan and the remaining 55 will be covered through workshops facilitated by The National Forum of
Organizations Working with the Disabled (NFOWD). At present there is no formal monitoring system, but District
Disability Welfare Committees are required to report to the Ministry of Social Welfare.

The Government of Bangladesh is in the process of preparing a Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP).
Disability was not explicitly included in the Interim PRSP from March 2003, but disability concerned agencies
and people with disabilities are now being included in the consultation process.

As a follow up to the endorsement of the Biwako Millennium Framework a Regional Symposium on Disability
was held in Dhaka in early December 2003 hosted by NFOWD and with participation from 24 Ministries and
Government departments. The organizers provided a set of eleven sub-thematic areas for discussion: (1)
National Policies and Legislation, (2) Education of people with disabilities, (3) Rights of children with disabilities,
(4) Rights of women with disabilities, (5) Employment Opportunities, (6) Self-help initiatives, (7) Community
based rehabilitation, (8) Accessibility, (9) Information & Communication, (10) Prevention & Early Intervention
and (11) Safe Environment & Social Security. The outcome of the Symposium, known as the Dhaka Declaration
on Disability 2003, states 20 items in a plan of action for implementation.

NGOs and INGOs


More than 200 NGOs and INGOs work more or less intensively with disability. Around 45 of these work
exclusively on disability or are managed by people with disability. The organizations can be grouped as follows:

Self-help Organizations or Disabled People’s Organizations (DPOs)


Several single- and cross- disability self-help organizations focus their work around the promotion and exertion
of the rights of people with disabilities. The organizations are formed and managed by people with disabilities
and they have a representative and advisory role with regard to decision-making in disability matters. Among
their central activities are the facilitation in the establishment of self-help groups of disabled people or parents of
disabled children at community level (often there are quotas like at least 50% of the members must have
disabilities). Between them the organizations have established more than 150 organizations/groups in
Bangladesh of which some have registered as independent DPOs with local authorities. Funding comes from a
wide range of donors, including similar organizations abroad, but members often contribute a small sum to
shared activities, which increases gradually until the groups are ready to become self-sustainable.

Specialized service providers and organizations


There is a fairly long tradition for specialized service providers and organizations in Bangladesh, who typically
focus their work on one or a few related types of disabilities, such as visual impairments, hearing impairments,
locomotor or intellectual disabilities. The expertise of these providers and organizations is often linked to
institutions, such as clinics, hospitals, and schools, with varying degrees of outreach and community work.
These organizations are often, but not always, supported by sister-organizations, centers and universities
abroad and some establish quite extensive national data-collection, service delivery and referral networks.
Interventions for certain types of disabilities, such as vision related disabilities and certain physical disabilities
(including the production of and training in using assistive devices for a barrier-free environment) tend to be very
well organized, but not necessarily coordinated with other similar or related initiatives and structures at national
level. Other specialized organizations work on prevention, research, information exchange and human
resources development in disability.

There is a good basis of technical and managerial knowledge among many NGOs at central level, and their
leadership is part of the reason for the current momentum in the disability movement in Bangladesh. The
diversity of NGOs expresses a high civil society capacity, which could probably be supported in a more
coordinated way by government and donor agencies. Furthermore, with so many and diverse organizations only
formally coordinated through their registration in NFOWD, there is likely to be skewed geographical coverage,
variations in quality of interventions, gaps and overlaps as well as higher overheads by many small
organizational structures. A fairly limited number of key persons from a few main NGOs have successfully
guided the development of the disability movement. However, in order to increase collaboration and
coordination across the spectrum of NGOs and to optimize results from the competencies and resources it is
necessary to strengthen coordination mechanisms as well as to broaden the platform for future leadership
through the development of human resources for NGO management. Several INGOs support disability related
activities in Bangladesh through funding and technical assistance. They often have a well-defined target group
and extensive specialized expertise and intervention tools. International NGOs should support the process of
developing a national action plan to increase coordination.

International agencies A number of international donor agencies have supported activities related to
rehabilitation of people with disabilities in Bangladesh on a more or less ad hoc basis. Disability as an issue is
rarely priority because it tends to fall between categories and partner organizations due to its cross-sectoral
nature. There is, however, increasing attention to disability at headquarter level in many organizations, such as
World Bank, DfID and ILO, who have disability units, and UNICEF and others, who are in the process of
discussing corporate policies to include disability. Several bilateral donors, often OECD countries, such as
NORAD, USAID, UKAID (former DFID), JICA and the EU Commission have their own disability guidelines,
which can be applied in country strategies.

Private sector (production/manufacturing) Except for BRAC and similar organizations, private sector
involvement in disability is largely found in the form of ad hoc donations. Contributions or sponsorship is typically
given for special occasions, i.e. the National Disability Day or one-off interventions, such as donations for
wheelchairs, or chess for the blind. Others donate a small amount per sold unit for a specific purpose related to
disability. One national newspaper has started a fund for acid survivors and brings a daily announcement of the
amount collected. A few companies have employed people with disabilities, but there is rarely an explicit
employment policy behind the initiative.

Sectoral involvement

Disability is a cross-sectoral issue. The team has assessed the situation and activities of Government,
NGOs/INGOs and the private sector, and suggested next steps for inclusion and reduction of vulnerability by
sector:

• Social Welfare: Focus on rehabilitation and inclusion activities at district level


• Education: Support the process of inclusion into regular schools
• Health: Scale up Early Detection Programmes and establish referral networks
• Employment and Income Generating Activities: Actively stimulate inclusion
• Transport, Infrastructure and Built Environment: Mainstream accessibility
• Access to Water and Sanitation: Support and mainstream pilot projects

Increased coordination at both national and district level will be crucial to fully take advantage of the
considerable expertise and materials already available in Bangladesh. In order to sustain and expand technical
expertise and leadership in Government as well as in DPOs/NGOs, it is necessary to review and invest in the
development of human resources. At all stages in the process people with disabilities, represented by DPOs and
NGOS active in the disability field, must be included in decision making processes.

WORK DONE BY B-SCAN

 With messages for inclusion of children with disability in various educational and vocational
institutions, printed 6000 leaflet and with message to create mass awareness on various disability
issues, printed 7000 stickers. These activities were supported by amarblog.com.

 Participated in talk show ‘Tritio Matra’ with Ms. Valeri Tylor of CRP and Mr. Mahbubul Islam of
AWDP. Various issues were discussed regarding the situation and needs of the people with disability in
Bangladesh.

 Networking with the Rotary Club of Bangladesh.

 Support of wheel chairs with the support of Rotary Club, to two disabled sisters , Rima and
Rimpa, in Dinajpur.

 Support to a boy with muscular dystrophy in Chittagong Residential Model School and College.

 Arranged for the supervision of DC and social welfare officer, and support of taka 30,000/-, to
Mr. Wazed Mia, the father of two disabled sisters in Ghoraghat, Dinajpur.

 Proposal for advocacy work to ensure ramps and suitable toilets in all public buildings submitted
to the Rotary Club. The Rotary Club has kindly indicated support for such work at district level.

 Advocacy with individuals owning buildings. In many instances these persons have come
forward.
 Inclusion of a child character with disability as a social message in a movie titled ‘Kajoler Din
Ratri’ by Dr. Jafar Iqbal. This work was funded by the government.

 Supporting Ms. Kohinoor Begum with taka 1000/- for starting her shop.

 Supporting Mr. Raisul of Maghbazar, Dhaka and Mr. Belal Hossain of Joydebpur. This was
sponsored by the Rotary Club of Dhaka Central.

 Participating in a seminar titled ‘Inclusion of people with disability in ICT, the Bangladesh
Context’ in the last BCS computer fair at Bangabandhu International Conference Center.

 Supporting Ms. Nigar Sultana Sumi and Ms. Georgina Begum of Dhaka with wheel chairs with
sponsorship of the Rotary Club.

WAY FORWARD

The situation of people with disability is quite unacceptable. These people are being denied their basic human
rights. The government has taken steps but for a under-developed country like ours, it will be a slow and long
journey. The development sector in Bangladesh gives priority to many critical issues including human rights but
ironically the population with disability has largely been kept out in favor of more popular programs like micro-
credit, water & sanitation, health for all etc. Also initiatives funded by either the government or the donors, have
to conform to the financier’s mandate whereas the financiers should have molded their support to fit the needs
of this special population group. The Bangladesh private sector has started investing in the social sector through
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). If the power of private sector is harnessed to further this noble cause,
much can be achieved within a shorter period.

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