Bangladesh country visit by UN experts
In the beginning of December 2009 two UN experts, the Independent Expert on water and sanitation and the Independent Expert on human rights and extreme poverty, will undertake a joint country visit to Bangladesh.
Visit to Dalit communities in Dhaka
During their visit the independent experts will visit Dalit communities in so-called 'colonies' in Dhaka city on 9 December. In this way the experts will get a first-hand impression of the poor conditions that the estimated 5,5 million Dalits in Bangladesh live under. They experience lack of access to basic social services such as water, sanitation, adequate housing, health care, social services and school facilities.
The UN experts have been alerted to this problem and will look into this specific situation during their country visit, in cooperation with Bangladesh Dalit and Excluded Rights Communities (BDERM) and Nagorik Uddyog (NU).
The draft UN principles and guidelines for the effective elimination of discrimination based on work and descent propose general and specific measures for governments, experts, and civil sociey to help prevent and eradicate this form of discrimination. In Bangladesh, the instrument has been translated into the local language by the above-mentioned organisations.
Paragraphs 42-45 make specific recommendations on measures to be taken to provide equal access to food, water, and housing for Dalits. IDSN recommends the UN experts to take note of this framework, as it is the first instrument to comprehensively address this issue, and refer to it in their reporting from the field visit.
More information on the situation of Dalits in Bangladesh:
'Caste-based discrimination in Bangladesh', UPR report submitted to the OHCHR in connection with the Universal Periodic Review of Bangladesh (2009)
'Destined to a life of humiliation', IDSN factsheet on the situation of Dalits in Bangladesh (June 2008)
'The Dalits of Bangladesh', news coverage in The Upstream Journal, Canada (November 2009)
- 'Political Participation of Dalit Women in Dhaka city, Bangladesh' by Farzana Islam
- Country information on Bangladesh
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