Embed Size (px)
Citation preview
Social Inclusion of persons with disabilities: an overview of government initiatives in Bangladesh
K.M. Mahiuddin, PhD1), Mitsuhiko SANO, PhD2) 1) Professor, Department of Government & Politics, Jahangirnagar University, Bangladesh and
Visiting Professor, Department of Social Rehabilitation, Faculty of Rehabilitation, Kobe Gakuin University, Japan
2) Associate Professor, Department of Social Rehabilitation, Faculty of Rehabilitation, Kobe Gakuin University, Japan
[Abstract] It is estimated that 9% to 16% of people in Bangladesh have different types of disabilities. Most of them
are poor or member of low income group and live in the rural areas. They face significant barrier accessing to
education, health, transport, public places, employment and social events due to structural, economic and social
barriers. Since the passage of Rights and Protection of Persons with Disabilities Act 2013, government has taken
several initiatives for prohibiting discrimination on the basis of disability, rehabilitating persons with disability
(PWD) and making them accessible to society. The paper shows that government initiatives have significant
impact upon the social inclusion of PWDs. But still the PWD are facing social stigma and discrimination. Despite
the challenges, over the last fifteen years the disability issues has incorporated in to development agenda and given
legal provisions make ensure their rights and protection in the society. The paper suggested that all appropriate
measures should be adopted priority basis to ensure socio-political rights of the people with disabilities.
Key words: persons with disability, social inclusion, access, human rights, policy and act.
Ⅰ. Introduction
Persons with disabilities (PWD) in Bangladesh face
significant barriers to access to education, health,
transport, public places, employment and social events.
Since the late 1990s special attention has given to
improve livelihood of the PWD. Bangladesh has
signed the United Nations Convention on the Rights of
Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) and committed to
implement its principles. As a result the ‘Persons with
Disabilities’ Rights and the Protection Act 2013’ was
passed by the parliament. The Act was formulated in
line with the CRPD principles and revoked the
previous act namely ‘Bangladesh Persons with
Disability Welfare Act 2001’. The new Act paved
the way for developing and implementing
comprehensive policies and program for ensuring
rights and protection of PWDs. This paper attempts
to analyze existing laws and policies, and their impact
on disability issues.
METHOD)
We first read documents such as internal documents
of the government, statistics, laws and regulations of
Bangladesh. After understanding current situation of
persons with disability in Bangladesh, we investigated
their social inclusion.
21
Ⅱ. Persons with Disability: Present Situation
in Bangladesh
Among the Asia-Pacific Countries disability
prevalence rate is comparatively higher in Bangladesh.
There are an estimated 9% to 16% of the total
population has one or another kind of disabilities1)2)3).
However there is serious debate about the disability
prevalence rate. In some surveys disability prevalence
rate are appeared underrated while some other surveys
estimated high rate. First reason is that there is no
uniform definition and understanding of disability and
secondly survey methods differ from one to another.
The present Act defines ‘disability’ as follows: “any
person who is physically, psychologically, and/or
mentally not functioning properly due to
social/environmental barriers and can’t take part
actively in the society is considered to be disabled4).”
In this definition social/environmental barriers are
considered for proper functioning of a person having
one or more limitation. The Act covers eleven types of
disabilities and defines each type separately. The Act
also reaffirms that any person having any kind of
disability will enjoy equal rights and have access to all
types of facilities provided by the government.
According to the Act Government agencies are
responsible for taking necessary initiatives for social
and economic inclusion of PWD.
Following the above definition and type of
disability the Department of Social Welfare Service
under Ministry of Social Welfare (MoSW) has started
disability detection survey to issue PWD card. The
registration form provides comprehensive information
on the corresponding PWD including age, gender,
residence type, education, profession, causes of
disability and rehabilitation information etc. Finally
type and level of disability is identified and signed by
a designated doctor. After successful online
registration process every registered PWD has given a
photo ID card which can be used for identification of
PWD eligibility for jobs, stipend, interest free loan,
social security benefits and admission in educational
institutions.
As of 12 November 2018 a total 1,604,515 (1% of
the total PWD) PWDs have been registered. Of them
60.94% are males, 38.91% are females and 0.15% are
transgender (Table 1). The data also indicates that
physical disability is the most common disability
followed by vision impairment. The proportion of
autism, intellectual disability, cerebral palsy, mental
illness and Down syndrome are higher in male group
than the others.
The prevalence of disability in Bangladesh is very
high for reasons relating to overpopulation, extreme
poverty, illiteracy, and lack of awareness and proper
medical services5). It is estimated that 5.56%
households in general have at least one member with
disability. Most of them are poor or member of low
income group and live in the rural areas. According to
government survey disability prevalence rate is higher
in rural areas (1.51%) than urban areas (1.06%)6). The
reasons behind the rural-urban gaps are include
poverty, illiteracy, lack of access to health care
services and awareness. However overall disability
prevalence rate is higher in the rural areas, Autism
Spectrum Disorder was found more common in the
children of urban areas*1).
神戸学院総合リハビリテーション研究 第 14 巻第２号 （2019 年 3 月）22
Table 1: Registered Persons with Disability: Types by Sex
Source: Data accessed on 12 November 2018 from https://www.dis.gov.bd
PWDs are marginalized in the society and often
excluded from formal economic activities. Therefore
they face extensive economic hardship. They are also
often excluded from development programs and
deprived of education due to lack of adequate facilities
and physical access. Prevailing attitudes of the
employer often prevent them being considered for
employment1). As a result they remain unemployment
and poor. There is also gender disparity, males with
disability have much less difficulty in getting married
than disabled females, and divorced/separated rate is
higher among disabled females compared to disabled
males3).
According to Article 29 of the CRPD signatory
states are responsible for ensuring appropriate and
accessible voting procedures for the voters with
disabilities. Again Article 29 says that persons with
disabilities have right to vote by secret ballot in
elections and public referendums without
intimidation7). As a signatory state Bangladesh
government is committed to ensure such voting
procedure for PWD. But it has been observed in the
previous national and local elections that most of the
polling booths were not accessible for persons with
physical and visually disabilities. There was no ‘fast
track’ voting procedure for the disabled citizens. As a
result they had to wait in the queue with other voters
for a long time. Moreover any specific ballot paper
was not provided for the visually impaired citizens
therefore they had to take support of the election
officials for casting votes which means that they could
not cast their votes secretly. In the election
manifestoes, political parties affirmed their support for
the persons with disabilities but their campaign
materials were not accessible for the visual impaired
citizens. It is worth mentioning that persons with
intellectual disabilities are often excluded from the
voter list also.
Ⅲ. Legislative and Policy Initiatives
Social model of disability sees disability as the
consequences of social inequality, disadvantages and
restrictions. Thereby the model suggests for giving
special address in the state policy and adopting
inclusive development program in order to eliminate
Sex/Type Male Female Trans Gender Total
Autism 28,055 60.64% 18,144 39.22% 63 0.13% 46,262 Physical Disability 462,079 64.79% 250,082 35.06% 1,081 0.15% 713,242 Long term mental illness 31,743 58.32% 22,608 41.54% 77 0.14% 54,428 Visual Disability 127,971 57.92% 92,888 42.04% 101 0.04% 220,960 Vocal Disability 66,777 56.87% 50,556 43.05% 98 0.08% 117,431 Intellectual Disability 71,185 56.47% 54,648 43.35% 230 0.18% 126,063 Hearing Disability 26,791 56.76% 20,355 43.13% 51 0.11% 47,197 Hearing and Visual Disability 3,734 55.95% 2,938 44.02% 2 0.03% 6,674 Cerebral Palsy 44,732 61.15% 28,391 38.81% 27 0.04% 73,150 Multiple Disability 106,290 57.83% 77,383 42.10% 122 0.07% 183,795 Down Syndrome 1,874 56.02% 1,466 43.83% 5 0.15% 3,345 Others 7,432 55.50% 5,400 40.32% 560 4.18% 13,392 Total 978,663 60.94% 624,859 38.91% 2,417 0.15% 1,605,939
Social Inclusion of persons with disabilities 23
physical, social and economic barriers*2). On the other
hand the states that rectified the CRPD are committed
to ensure equal rights for them. In this regard some
Articles of the Bangladesh Constitution which ensure
the fundamental rights and dignity of people including
PWD needs to be explained. In Article 11,
Constitution says that Bangladesh will be democratic
republic where fundamental human rights, freedoms
and human dignity will be respected. Article 19(1)
asserts that State shall endeavor to ensure equality of
opportunity to all citizens; and Article 19(2) makes it
mandatory for the state to adopt effective measures to
ensure the equitable distribution of wealth among
citizens, and of opportunities in order to attain a
uniform level of economic development throughout
the Republic. Again Article 27 confirms that all
citizens are equal before law and are entitled to equal
protection of law8). The essence of these Articles
suggested that PWD will be treated equal to others and
enjoy fundamental human rights, freedom and dignity.
Social model of disability does not deny the reality
of impairment but argue for removing all kind of
social barriers that exclude PWDs in the society. In
this approach, scholars and activists give emphasis on
inclusion of the PWD in education, employment,
decision making and all other social activities9). In
Article 28 (3), all people including people with
disabilities have given right to access to any place of
public entertainment or resort, or admission to any
educational institution; Article 28(4) allows the state
to enact special laws for the advancement of any
backward section of citizens and Article 29(3a) admits
for making special provision in favor of any backward
section of citizens for the purpose of securing their
adequate representation in the government service.
There are some other provisions in the constitution
that contained rights and dignity of all citizens without
any discrimination10). Thus it can be said that
Bangladesh Constitution directs the state to take
necessary measures for the inclusion of PWDs in
society rather than exclude them from the state affairs.
After ratification of the CRPD Bangladesh
government has set up a National Coordination
Committee on Disability under the Ministry of Social
Welfare in 1993. Thereafter government has adopted a
National Action Policy on Disability in 1995 which
gives a guideline for identification of causes and
prevention of disability, education, health care,
rehabilitation, employment, recreation, research,
secured communication and management of national
programs for the wellbeing of the persons with
disability. Based on above policy an action plan was
approved in 1996 but it was not fully implemented.
The disability issue has received significant imputes
through the government policy and programs during
Sheikh Hasina regimes. The government has set up
National Foundation for the Development of Disabled
Persons (JPUF) in 1999 and enacted Disability
Welfare Act in 2001. Definition of disability for the
first in Bangladesh was defined by this law. In this Act
disability was viewed only from medical perspective,
social issues were not addressed. The Act emphasized
on prevention, health care facilities, rehabilitation,
access to transport, employment and social benefits
however it had not been fully implemented.
The National Education Policy 2010 provided three
types of educational set up for the students with
disabilities: special, integrated and mainstream
education. Special educational institutes are set up for
particular type of students with disabilities where
special trained teachers use special kind of curriculum,
teaching and learning methods. In an integrated
system special needs students study in mainstream
school along with other students but they are given
神戸学院総合リハビリテーション研究 第 14 巻第２号 （2019 年 3 月）24
special care services including study materials and
technical supports. Mainstream educational
institutions enrol students with mild to moderate
disability. The Education Policy emphasized on
educational rights of the students with disabilities and
directed all educational institutions to give special
attention to the students with disabilities to ensure
their participation at all level of education. All Primary
Teachers’ Training Institutes are also required to
arrange training for teachers about integrated
education program and for the teachers delivering
special education. Due to above policy initiative
enrolment of special needs children in the regular
primary schools has been increased about 5% in the
last few years11).
Disability Welfare Act-2001 was revoked by the
‘Persons with Disabilities’ Rights and Protection Act
2013’. The new Act is more comprehensive than the
previous Act. It covers 11 types of disabilities
including autism, physical, psychological, visual
impaired, speech impaired, intellectual disability,
hearing disability, hearing-visual disability, cerebral
palsy, Down syndrome and multiple disabilities.
The Act offers 21 standards rights and protection for
the PWD on the basis of equality, non-discrimination,
and cultural, economic and social inclusion.
According to above Act five types of committees
are to be appointed from national to town level i.e.
National Coordination Committee, National Executive
Committee, District Committee, Upazila Committee
and City Committee or Municipality Committee. In
line with the Act committees will work for ensuring
rights and protection of the PWD. Further, the Act sets
out some areas where government, NGOs and local
authorities are obliged to take necessary actions for
alleviating risks and improving ease mobility of the
PWD as well as inclusion them into the society. In
accordance with the Act government will take
necessary steps for conducting nationwide disability
detection survey to issue PWD identity card, make
arrangements for facilitating accessibility to public
transport and premises, admission of children with
disabilities in educational institutions. Above all
government will work for eliminating all kinds of
discrimination against the PWD and will take proper
steps towards the alleviation of risks and prevention
from increased disability. The Act also adopted
comprehensive approach for their social protection. If
anybody or any institution or any organizations
commit any offense or discrimination against the
persons with disabilities will be considered for trial
under this Act. This is a new provision which was
not mentioned in the previous Act.
National Skills Development Council (NSDC),
headed by the Prime Minister, formulated National
Skills Development Policy in 2011 emphasizing
inclusive training program for the PWD. Based on this
policy National PWD Strategy Paper has been
approved by the government in October 2016. The
strategy paper included a 5% enrolment target for
PWD in all Technical and Vocational Education and
Training Institutes. It is assumed that with the
implementation of the admission quota system 25000
trainees with disabilities will be trained by 2018.
Ⅳ. Department/Institutes for Persons with
Disabilities
Under the Ministry of Social Welfare (MoSW) four
agencies namely Department of Social Welfare,
National Foundation for Disability Development,
Neuro-Developmental Disability Protection Trust and
Physically Disabled Protection Trust are working for
the PWD. At present about 14 ministries are also
Social Inclusion of persons with disabilities 25
involved in implementing different programs
including erasing social barriers, employment, social
awareness building, and prevention and improvement
of disabilities. Apart from government
department/agencies, more than 150 NGOs and some
self-help PWD organizations have been working for
the betterment of the PWD.
The Social Welfare department has been conducting
disability identification survey and distributed
monthly government allowances to the registered poor
PWD. In the last fiscal year (2017-18) a total BDT
6930 million was allocated for 0.885 million PWD
which is increased to BDT 8400 million for 1 million
in FY 208-19. Students with disabilities from
elementary to above graduation level have also given
monthly stipend. In FY 2017-18 a total 80,000
students were given BDT 545.0 million as monthly
stipend which is increased to BDT 803.7 million for
90,000 students in the FY 2018-19. Apart from
disability identification survey and allowance
distribution, the Department of Social Welfare
provides education, training and rehabilitation services
to persons with disabilities and encouraged concern
educational institutions for ensuring to build disable
friendly educational structure.
Last several years government has made significant
impact on Neuro-Developmental Disorders (NDD)
and Bangladesh became a unique model. It is worth
mentioning that Saima Wazed Hossain, daughter of
Prime Minister, brought this issue to the forefront and
inspired the government for enabling national
environment for the children with NDD. Thereby
‘Neuro-Developmental Disability Protection Trust’
was established under the ‘National Trust Act for
Neurodevelopmental Disabilities 2013’. The Trust
provides physical, psychological, and economic
assistance to all persons with disabilities as well as
their nurture, security and rehabilitation. In the same
year a National Steering Committee (NSC) comprised
of eight ministries was formed for formulating multi
sectorial action plan on NDD.
The JPUF was established in 1999 with the vision
of ensuring parity, rights, full participation and
integrated social management for the disabled
community. Under the preview of above vision JPUF
has been working for building social awareness and
involving the disabled community with the
mainstream of the society. In doing so, till 2017 JPUF
has established 103 Disabled Help and Service Centre
in 64 districts and 39 Upazila. Furthermore, an autism
corner has also been launched for providing different
services like autism detection, assessment, therapy,
counseling and training. Besides these a hostel for
working men and women with disabilities, special
schools for children with autism and a teachers
training center are also being run in Dhaka and other
cities by the JPUF.
Altogether 15 Child Development Centers (CDC)
have been established within government hospitals
across the country under a project of Ministry of
Health and Family Planning. A three member’s
multi-disciplinary team of professionals comprises
child health physician, psychologist and
developmental therapist provide OPD services for
developmental disabilities, cerebral palsy, epilepsy,
speech delay and neurological impairment. Until
November 2017 a total 67,793 children and adolescent
have been provided medical, counseling and therapy
services. Most of them (79%) came from low and
middle income families12).
神戸学院総合リハビリテーション研究 第 14 巻第２号 （2019 年 3 月）26
Ⅴ. Progress and Challenges of Social Inclusion
A Access to Transport
Transportation system including road safety,
availability of ramp, priority seats are the most
important issues for ease mobility of the PWD.
Addressing this problem the Act of 2013 has adopted a
provision of reserving 5% of total seats in all types of
public transport for the PWD. Accordingly
Bangladesh Road Transport Authority has taken
necessary initiatives. But this is not enough for ease
mobility because no public transport will be seen in
the city which has ramps or wheel-chair access
meaning that person with physical disability has no
access with his/her wheel chair to the transport.
B Access to Public Premises
The present Act says that all public establishments
must be accessible to PWD which means that
buildings will be equipped with lift, rail and
appropriate symbols. After enactment of the Act
government departments have taken initiatives for
installation ramps and lifts in their old fashioned
buildings and new buildings are designed in
accordance with the law. Nowadays wheelchair
accessibility is to be found in some public premises
including bank, garments industry, school, hospital
and supermarket. But in many cases these ramps and
lift are not accessible for PWD due to faulty design.
Both Dhaka North and South City Corporations have
rebuilt sidewalk with tactile ground surface indicators
in many areas of the city in 2017 for ease the
movement of persons with visual impairment13). But in
other cities, sidewalk is still most unsafe and
dangerous especially for the persons with visual and
physical impairment.
C Access to Education
It is estimated that Bangladesh loses 54 million
dollar per year due to lack of education of PWD and
their caregivers14). Therefore the present Act focuses
on inclusive education, vocational training as well as
special educational needs of children. Considering the
government directives, JPUF, DSS and Bangladesh
Army altogether are running 27 special schools for
intellectually disabled, hearing impaired, visually
impaired persons and children with autism. Apart from
them about 70 private schools are offering education
and therapy services for the children with autism.
JPUF established a teachers training college which
offers B.S. Ed (Bachelor of Special Education) degree
and Department of Special Education of Dhaka
University offers higher education on disabilities.
Including public universities all educational institutes
maintain admission quota for the enrolment of
students with disabilities. For example, certain seats
are reserved by the public universities for admission.
Students with special needs are also given extra 30
minutes in all public examinations. But very few other
facilities are provided to them, especially class rooms,
library and dormitory facilities including toilets,
dinning, and entertainment room are not appropriate
for persons with physical disability and visual
impaired. In addition education cost, unavailability
of special education materials and limited
opportunities for employment are the major challenges
for students with disabilities.
D Access to Health Care and Assistive Products
Access to health care service is a fundamental right
of the PWD but accessibility depends upon individual
knowledge/perception about their health condition,
availability and affordability of services. As we
mentioned earlier most of the PWD belong to low
Social Inclusion of persons with disabilities 27
income families and live in rural areas. In these
circumstances, they cannot go to the specialized
hospitals due to transport barrier and medical cost.
According to government policy community health
clinics are to be provided primary health care services
but service providers are not trained in assessing
problem properly and delivering medical service to the
PWD. In this circumstance, JPUF has launched 32
mobile vans for providing One-stop Therapy Service
across the country. Until 2017, therapy vans travelled
to 310 Upazila of 61 Districts and provided services to
total 91,914 PWD*3).
Availability and access to assistive products is very
important for people with disability for their
movement, employment and social interaction.
However many assistive products and apps have been
invented in the developed countries only few of them
are available in Bangladesh. WHO listed 50 priority
assistive products (APL)15) for older people and people
with disabilities among from the list only 23 types of
assistive products are available in the country16)
including wheel chairs, scratch, hearing device, white
cane, mobile screen reader apps. Some of the assistive
products are locally made and some of them are
imported from abroad. Some of these items including
wheelchair, white stick, crutch, artificial lamb are
provided by the GO and NGOs without or minimum
costs. Recently under a government project all the text
books for class I-X have been converted into
multimedia digital talking books using the DAISY17)
standard.
In line with the vision of ‘Digital Bangladesh’,
government has taken several initiatives to mitigate
the digital gap between PWD and others. Government
services are simplified and made accessible through
websites but these were accessible to person with
visual disability. A government project namely ‘access
to information program’ (a2i) is working for
developing web accessibility tool kits for the persons
with visual impaired. Based on internationally
practiced autism screening method a Bengali version
M-CHAT screening app named Autism Barta has
developed for community health workers, parents and
others for screening children for possible autism. The
app is designed to store the responses in an online
database and will suggest nearby autism resource
center for confirmation and intervention. Some
government and non-government organizations offer
basic computer training course for the PWD including
visually impaired students to enable them to access
information and find employment.
E Access to Employment and Economic
Activities
In line with Article 29(3a) of the Bangladesh
Constitution, one percent seat has been reserved for
the persons with disabilities in civil services, and all
other first and second class government jobs. But due
to lack of proactive recruitment practices for the
candidates with disabilities these quotas are still not
being field. Private sectors are encouraged to come
forward for employment among people with
disabilities. Among the private sector RMG factories
is a potential source of employment of PWD. Already
more than 150 RMG have installed audio and visual
alarms, accessible lifts, ramps and handrails. JUPF and
some NGOs have been implementing income
generating program for the poor PWD but these are
not enough for their economic empowerment. Poor
men and women with disabilities are often excluded
from the microcredit program also because of negative
attitudes of the staff and fellow group members, and
sometimes PWD themselves.
神戸学院総合リハビリテーション研究 第 14 巻第２号 （2019 年 3 月）28
Ⅵ. Conclusion
Since the passage of Rights and Protection of
Persons with Disabilities Act 2013, government has
taken several initiatives for prohibiting discrimination
on the basis of disability, rehabilitating the PWDs and
making them accessible to state and society.
Fourteen ministries are coordinately ensuring rights of
PWDs and making them accessible to socio-economic
activities like education, health, transport and
employment. Despite these initiatives financial or
social benefits are designed from welfare perspective
and allocated money is insufficient hence their rights
are not properly addressed. Their enrolments in the
educational institutes are also limited thereby
employment opportunities in both public and private
sector still low. Public places including workplace,
offices, shopping place and educational institutes
mostly remain inaccessible. Comparatively medical
facilities have been improved but most of the
specialized hospitals and centers were established in
the capital and in other big cities thereby PWDs from
rural areas face barriers in accessing to affordable
health care and rehabilitation services. However
disability-inclusive development program is expensive
and require huge infrastructural changes but rights of
the persons with disabilities cannot be ignored.
Ⅶ. Acknowledgments
This research was funded by the Univers
Foundation·FY2017 Research Grant "Research on
education and social inclusion for the people with
disabilities in developing countries" (research leader:
Mitsuhiko Sano).
[*notes]
*1) The survey was conducted the Institute of Pediatric
Neurodisorder and Autism (IPNA). The survey
covered 37,982 households of 30 districts and
altogether 38,440 children aged between 16 and 30
months.
*2) Social model of disability was developed in the late
1980s and 1990s by Victor Finkelstein, Oliver, Colin
Barnes, Tom Shakespeare and the Union of the
Physically Impaired against Segregation (UPIAS).
*3) For detail see JPUF website: http://www.jpuf.gov.bd.
[References]
1) The Danish Bilharziasis Laboratory for the World
Bank, Disability in Bangladesh: A Situation Analysis,
Bangladesh, 2004.
2) National Institute for Global Health, Centre for Eye
Research Australia, ICDDRB, Rapid Assessment of
Disability, BMC Public Health, 2010.
3) Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics, Household Income
and Expenditure Survey, Dhaka: BBS, 2010.
4) Ministry of Law Justice and Parliamentary Affairs,
Persons with Disabilities Rights and Protection Act
2013, Dhaka: Legislative and Parliamentary Affairs
Division, October 2013.
5) Planning and Evaluation Department JICA, Country
Profile on Disability People’s Republic of Bangladesh,
2002; 10-10 (accessed on 15 November 2018)
http://siteresources.worldbank.org/DISABILITY/Reso
urces/Regions/South%20Asia/JICA_Bangladesh.pdf .
6) Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics, Disability in
Bangladesh: Prevalence and Pattern: Population
Monograph of Bangladesh, Dhaka, 25; 2015.
7) United Nations, Convention on the Rights of Persons
with Disabilities, 2006 (accessed on 18 November
2018) http://www.un.org.
8) Ministry of Law Justice and Parliamentary Affairs, the
Constitution of Peoples Republic of Bangladesh,
Dhaka: Government Press (accessed on 15 November
2018)
http://bdlaws.minlaw.gov.bd/pdf_part.php?id=367.
9) Stobo, John D, Michael McGeary, and David K
Barnes, Improving the Social Security Disability
Social Inclusion of persons with disabilities 29
Decision Process, Washington DC: National
Academies Press, 2007.
10) Articles 10, 11, 15, 17, 20, 31, 32 and 36 of the
Bangladesh Constitution (accessed 12 November
2018)
http://bdlaws.minlaw.gov.bd/pdf_part.php?id=367.
11) Ministry of Education, National Education Policy
2010, Dhaka: MoE, Directorate of Primary Education,
2010, Annual Sector Performance Report, Dhaka:
DPE, 2010.
12) Khan, N. Z., Sultana R., Ahmed F., Shilpi A. B.,
Sultana N., and Darmstadt G.L.,2017, Scaling up
Child Development Centre in Bangladesh, Child:
Care, Health and Development, Jhon Wiely and Sons
Ltd (accessed on 4 December 2018)
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/cch.1
2530.
13) The Daily Star, Dhaka, June 23, 2017.
14) Rainer Brockhaus, People with Disabilities: Let
Everyone Benefit, the Daily Star, Dhaka: June 24,
2016.
15) World Health Organization, Priority Assistive
Products List (APL) (accessed on 17 January 2019)
https://www.who.int/phi/implementation/assistive_tec
hnology/global_survey-apl/en/.
16) Mehedi Hasan Khan, Hidehisa Oku, Mitsuhiko Sano;
The situation of Assistive Products in Bangladesh by
comparing Priority Assistive Product List (APL) of
World Health Organization (WHO), Australian
Assistive Technology Conference 2018 ABSTRACT
BOOK, 2018;81-81.
17) DAISY Consortium, DAISY Digital Talking Book,
http://www.daisy.org/daisypedia/daisy-digital-talking-
book (accessed on 17 January 2019).
神戸学院総合リハビリテーション研究 第 14 巻第２号 （2019 年 3 月）30
障がい者の社会的包摂：
バングラデシュ政府による取り組みの展望
K. M. Mahiuddin1），佐野 光彦 2）
1）バングラデシュ国立ジャハンギルノゴール大学政治学部、 神戸学院大学 総合リハビリテーション学部（客員教授）
2）神戸学院大学 総合リハビリテーション学部
［要約］バングラデシュの人々の 9%～16%には様々な種類の障がいがあると推定されている。彼らのほと
んどは、貧困者層又は低所得者層のメンバーで、農村地帯に住んでいる。彼らは、構造的、経済的、社
会的障壁のために、教育、保健、交通、公共の場所、就労、社会的イベントにアクセスするための大き
な障がいに直面している。2013 年の障がい者の権利と保護法の施行以来、政府は障がいに基づく差別を
禁止し、障がい者のリハビリテーションに取り組み、障がい者が社会にアクセスしやすくするためのい
くつかの取り組みを行っている。本稿は、政府の取り組みが障がい者の社会的包摂に重大な影響を及ぼ
すことを示唆している。しかし、未だに障がい者は社会的汚名と差別に直面している。このような難し
い状況下ではあるが、過去 15 年間で障がい者問題は、開発計画に組み込まれ、社会における権利と保護
を確保する法的規定が与えられた。本稿は、障がい者の社会政治的権利を確保するために、あらゆる適
切な措置を優先的に採用すべきであると指摘した。
キ－ワ－ド：障がい者、社会的包摂、アクセス、障害者権利条約、政策と法
Social Inclusion of persons with disabilities 31
