RAJSHAHI, Aug 21, 2024 (BSS)- Around 1,000 people with gender diversity
commonly known as transgender are getting rehabilitation support in terms of
ensuring their human rights, dignity and social justice.

Particularly, they are getting need-based support of capacity development,
livelihood improvement and empowerment through computer and outsourcing
training with intervention of a project.
 
The Diner Alo Hijra Sangha (DAHS), works for protecting fundamental rights of
the extremely excluded population in the society through their integration,
has been implementing the project since December, 2022.

The three-year project titled "Strengthening Capacity of Gender Diverse
Community to Protect Their Rights (SCG)" is being implemented in all 30 wards
of Rajshahi City Corporation and nine upazilas of the district.

Main thrust of the project is to attain sustainable organizational
development through boosting partnership of the organisations working for
empowering the gender diversity population and capacity improvement.

It has also provision of ensuring justice through identifying the incidents
of human rights violation of the targeted people. With intervention of the
scheme, the DAHS has started enhancing scopes of advocacy at different levels
for formulating policy, law and best practices for their safeguards.

Talking to BSS here on Tuesday, SCG Project Coordinator Abu Sayeed gave a
salient feature of the project along with its aims, objectives and
implementation strategy.
 
He said the project is being implemented for improving the living and
livelihood conditions of 1,000 transgender people.

Major activities of the projects are: arranging training on human rights,
gender balance and leadership, placement grooming session, providing
financial support for income-generation activities, skill development-based
crafts training, sewing and embroidery training, catering training and
leadership training for skill development.

DAHS President Mohona also highlighted the activities of the organisations
for elevating the living and livelihood condition of transgender people in
the city.
 
She pointed out that the members of the community are always subjected to
negligence and repression in every sphere of life including family and
society.
 
The Hijra community is deprived of several rights, she added. The public in
general have a very narrow mindset regarding genderless people and they
should change their mentality.
 
Being rejected by families, many grew up hating their bodies, and fall victim
to depression, drug addiction, violence and suicide, he added.
 
Around 2.5 percent people of the total population were genderless, she said,
adding that time has come to ensure their basic rights.