Development of Gender-Sensitive Dalit Panchayet to reduce VAW

Goal of the project: To improve human rights situation of the Dalit women
Objective of the project: To initiate reform measures in 5 selected Dalit Panchayet and to form 10 Shadow Women Panchayet in Dhaka City Corporation areas, and to develop the selected Dalit Panchayets and Shadow Panchayets gender-sensitive and democratic through appropriate training and mentoring.
Duration of the project: 16 November 2017 – 15 November 2018
Donor: Bangladesh Human Rights Commission & UNDP
Background information of the project: This 1-year project, supported by Bangladesh Human Rights Commission and UNDP, started in 16 November 2017 and scheduled to be completed on 15 November 2018, aims to reform the age-old Dalit Panchayet, make them democratic and gender-sensitive through different training and counselling sessions; create shadow-Panchayet (women member Panchayet) and youth clubs involving adolescent girls and boys to create some pressure groups within; and to work closely with the local elected bodies for external support and mentoring. Through all these approaches, this project aims to make all community-based traditional Dalit Panchayet in the project villages open to the wider society so that they feel some pressure from both within and outside and willing to change and let their women enjoy some basic human rights and be proactive to reduce violence against women.
Results: The project has just been started, and as such, it is yet to produce any results. However, as per indicators set in the plan, SHAREE will use both progress and process monitoring to collect both quantitative and qualitative data, and analyse those with a view to know whether the organization is able to produce necessary outputs to achieve the objectives of the project.