WHO WE ARE
ADD International is UK Charity Registered International NGO working over 30 years in Asia & Africa and start working in Bangladesh since 1995 with Disabled Peoples’ Organization (DPO) to promote human rights for the persons with disability. ADD partner with disability activists to help them access the tools, resources and support they need to build powerful movements for change.
Our programmatic themes are: Social Political and Civic Rights; Wellbeing and Economic Empowerment; Mental Health; Prevention of Gender Based Violence, Water and Sanitation for Women and Men with Disability; Inclusive Education, Disability inclusive Disaster Risk Reduction.
We do implement projects on themes mentioned in partnership with DPOs at the grassroots and National level. Policy influencing and advocacy is one of the core works under its Theory of Change. ADD facilitated more than 140 grassroots DPOs and two National Networks of DPOs. Currently ADD is working in 12 districts but it has DPO reach to over 20 districts.
PROGRAMMATIC INTERVENTIONS IN RESONSE TO COVID 19
To respond with the pandemic, we undertook three types of interventions under respective programmes;
- Collected updated information of DPO members to know their current status on infected & well-being, relief support & livelihood, knowledge (source & current practice);
- Adapted programme activities e.g. cash transfer, awareness raising through virtual platform & over phone;
- Advocacy in global & national level.
This way 2,375 beneficiaries supported by cash under 41 DPOs & 9640 members received awareness raising information by direct contribution of the organization under all currently contracted 51 DPOs. For being epidemic period, we have to depend on virtual mode & telephone where accessibility, poor network & not accustomed with virtual correspondence stands as a great challenge. Besides, from indirect contribution like advocacy and linkage making, 10,958 (114%) people get food relief, cash support & sanitization materials from government, private organizations & affluent citizens. Here 3,604 are women & 7,354 are men.
FUTURE OUTLOOK & RECOMMENDATIONS
One crucial learning is coverage of relief doesn’t justify the need still. Like, one piece of soap or 2 kg rice could be counted support for a person, but considering necessity it is very tiny. Along with government, private sectors & affluent community people contribute immensely to provide relief to persons with disabilities. But since March to date relief support is gradually decreasing for withdrawing the lockdown, many people loss works in informal & informal sectors but returning to previous work is quite difficult for changing circumstances, thus switching occupation with very poor earning, squeezing food & other daily consumptions.
Along with relief support & incentives, restoring people’s job/work by providing loan & subsidy is urgent by putting serious effort from government, where other business networks & private sectors could cooperate through initiating flexible rules & regulations for persons with disabilities.
WEB LINK
SocialMedia: https://www.facebook.com/ADD.international.Bangladesh/ | https://twitter.com/adduk/ | https://www.youtube.com/user/addinternationalTV | https://www.instagram.com/addinternational/
Website: https://www.add.org.uk/countries/bangladesh
