BANGLADESH

Saima Hossain Putul, the prime minister's daughter who spearheads disability issues in Bangladesh, has said the country is making progress to ensure "equality" for such special people, and that state mechanism should take the issue forward.'

Talking to on Monday on the sidelines of the ongoing Fifth Shafallah Forum at Qatar's capital, she affirmed that Bangladesh was working in line with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

"We have not only signed the Convention but ratified it," Saima said. "How many countries will you find (that has) ratified the convention? We did it.

"We have a policy on disability, which is being updated. We hosted the global conference in Dhaka (and) you will not find many countries that could make this progress.

"We have also launched a South Asia Network on autism."

According to the UN, 153 countries, including Bangladesh, have signed the Convention that demands access to healthcare, education, employment and all other fundamental rights for persons with disabilities. But only 109 nations have ratified it thus far.

A US-licensed psychologist and a global advocate for the US-based research organisation 'Autism Speaks', Putul brought the disability issue to the forefront in Bangladesh in July last year when she organised first autism meet in South Asia. Among global leaders who took part in the event was Sonia Gandhi, president of India's ruling Congress party.

'NOT A POLITICAL ISSUE'

While Bangladesh's political culture has made people sceptical whether the issue would see any progress if the Sheikh Hasina government does not return to power and archrival BNP comes in, Saima said, "It should not be hindered."

"It's not a political issue. The government mechanism will work (and) it's their responsibility to carry out the programmes," Putul said, referring to bureaucrats.

Having dismissed any possible foray into politics in a previous interview with , Putul said she can use her "political connections" for the welfare of persons with disability.

At the opening of the forum on Sunday, Shafallah Centre chairman Hassan Ali said many countries are not abiding by the UN Convention.

Putul said: "This year, we discussed what we should do in any crisis for people with disability. People forget them during disasters and crises. They cannot stand up in a queue for relief."

THE SHEER NUMBERS

She stressed that the conference discussed their plight in detail and said, "It is a very relevant conference, as we are a disaster-prone country and have (many) people with disabilities."

Preliminary results of the latest census suggest 16 million people live with disabilities in Bangladesh, which is 9.07 percent of the population.

Suggesting ways to ameliorate the life of this significant section of population, Putul said: "We should make policies to build wheelchair-friendly buildings so that they can move everywhere. We should consider their numbers and they can contribute (to society and the economy) if we can make them part of the mainstream."

She said the conference discussed how policies could help to that end.

Besides panel discussions, there was a closed-door meeting of the first ladies attending the forum. Though details of the meeting were yet to emerge, it is learnt that Putul spoke there.

Ali, the chairman of Shafallah Centre, a state-of-the-art facility for children with special needs, meanwhile, told that they could assist Bangladesh in "training people and also brining people for training".

Putul said she was also interacting with the global centre to train Bangladeshis.

As part of that, she said, three principals of special schools will be sent to the US for a one-month training. Talks are underway with a Saudi Arabian centre as well.

"We have to go and learn. We will work on every possibility," she said.

Putul had earlier told that "creative utilisation" of resources can bring smiles to the children with special needs in such resource-starved countries as Bangladesh.