What we seek from contry ? Citizen Rights .
Research from the Citizenship Development Research Centre, based at IDS, is shedding new light on the gap between the theory and realities of citizenship in Bangladesh.

When researchers from the BRAC Development Institute asked people the meaning of rights, they were surprised to find that more than a fifth of female respondents referred to their right to shongshar – a word often translated from Bengali as family, though with wider implications.

?That’s not something we were prepared to hear,’ said Kabita Chowdhury, a researcher at the BRAC Development Institute. ?Why is it so important to have a right to your household? Because they are so vulnerable to being kicked out – your property, your house, your life, your family.’

The research – carried out for the Development Research Centre on Citizenship, Participation and Accountability, based at IDS, – was intended to explore how the practices of mobilisation and mediation of eight grassroots development organisations were cultivating an awareness of rights and a sense of citizenship among beneficiaries.

The findings shed light on the ways that certain practices of mobilisation and mediation shape people’s perceptions, conclusions that have been useful to non-governmental organisations (NGOs) involved in the research. But the research has also underscored how important it is to have a conversation about the contradictions of citizenship – a term that legalistically implies equality, but in practice is rife with disparities, such as those in the household.

Citizen Rights FairTo bring attention to the ways that NGOs contribute to grassroots political empowerment, and to raise awareness of the gap between the theory and reality of citizenship, BRAC Development Institute hosted a Nagorik Adhikar Mela (Citizens Rights Fair): a colourful two-day event that used a traditional form of sharing and celebrating.

Nearly 600 grassroots members performed songs, dances and dramas during the programme. Hundreds of photographs and poster on the theme of rights and citizenship were displayed at the gallery, and 57 organisations showcased their efforts to raise awareness of citizen rights at their stalls: covering issues from human rights, labour rights, child rights, rights of ethnic groups, environmental rights and women’s rights. The fair ended with a panel discussion of high-profile speakers on ‘Fulfilling the promise of equal citizenship.’

Participants included NGOs such as BRAC and Nijera Kori, human rights agencies such as Ain-O-Shalish Kendra, organisations promoting workers’ rights such as BLAST, organisations raising awareness through cultural activities such as Rupantar, organisations working on child rights such as Aparajeyo-Bangladesh, those carrying forward the land rights movement for the landless like Samata, and associations fighting for the rights of indigenous groups. Nearly a quarter of the cost of the fair was covered through in-kind and small donations from the participating organisations themselves.

?It’s an important opportunity for regional organisations to showcase their work at the national level,’ said Sohela Nazneen, a former IDS Dphil and Research Fellow with the Pathways of Women’s Empowerment Research Programme Consortium

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citizen Rights

Tags: Bangladesh, BRAC Development Institute, Citizen Rights, Human Rights

This entry was posted on Monday, February 8th, 2010 at 8:32 am and is filed under Bangladesh, Bangladesh, Development. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.