Programmatic interventions in response to COVID-19​

a. Dalit and Tea Community

NU so far implemented the following activities among the dalit communities in collaboration with Bangladesh Dalit and Excluded Rights Movement (BDERM).

  • Distributed protective materials (Soap and Masks) among Dalit and tea communities. A total of 5000 families covered under this action. 
  • Distribution of 20,000 thousands leaflets to make aware. 
  • Raise awareness among the 800 pre-primary Dalit students as as well as provided soap and mask to protect from virus.
  • Youth Dalit volunteers are working to make aware on social distancing at the Dalit colony.  It is difficult to maintain distancing as the colony is crowed. They are also working to restrict colony people’s movement to outside without reason as well as outsiders’ entry to the colony.
  • Distributed food materials among 100 families of unemployed tea community at  Maulavibazar district.

b. Informal Sector Workers

The following work completed in cooperation with Bangladesh Labor Rights Forum

  • Distribution of 20,000 awareness raising leaflets among informal sector workers in Dhaka city.
  • Distributed 1,400 packets cooked food among floating people in different places of Dhaka city
  • Distributed 200 food package among Hawkers and domestic workers in the city (containing rice, lentils , potato, oil and soap)

c. Working with Linguistic Minorities (Bihari)

Nagorik Uddyog collaborated with Council of Minority to support the Bihari community.

  • Distributed 720 food package among Urdhu speaking ( Bihari ) people in Dhaka, Syedpur, Rangpur, Chittagong and Mymensingh districts, who are hard hit as they engaged in informal sector work ( much needed  community)
  • 3 sickly camp dwellers assisted to get COVID-19 test and found positive. One of them died (6 years old) at hospital and 2 of them are under treatment. Supporting food and medicine to them

d. Community level awareness

  • NU facilitated community forum- Citizens Rights Group (CRG) are working on 63 unions of 7 upazilas of Barishal, Pirojpur, Tangail and Rangpur district to aware people about the risk of spreading COVID-19, ensuring expats maintaining home quarantine, assisting administration and law enforcing agencies in maintaining social distancing  as well as connecting the most vulnerable people to the government emergency support.

e. Lobbying with the government

  • Submitted a list of Dalit vulnerable people in different districts and sub-district to the authority to get government support on priority basis. So far 3,563 (three thousands five hundreds sixty three) Dalit families received government emergency food support in 10 districts. BDERM local  committee coordinating this work