A visit in Disabled Women Development Organization (DWDO)


Yesterday staff reporter of Voice of Bangladesh Mr. Nahid Tanvir visited the office of Disabled Women Development Organization (DWDO), Uttara in Dhaka. Then being requested he visited the project site of this organization. There he meet with some women leader of DWDO such as Nazma Begum, Sumona Ireen, Halima Akhtari,  Mrs. Nazmun Nahar,  Khaleda Parvin,  Mrs. Thamina Begum,  Adori Begum,  Yasmin Akhter Rimi and many other women leader is leading DWDO to fulfill its mission for the disabled and destitute women and girls of Bangladesh. It is a registered, nonprofit, nonpolitical, non-governmental development organization of a group of committed Women & Women with Disabilities. It mainly dealing with Women with Disabilities and disadvantaged and distressed women of the community. Currently, the activities of the organization are concentrated in the Districts of Gazipur, Dhaka, Madaripur, Jessore, Magura, Khulna and Sariatpur respectively with the support of its 6 partner organization in 6 district of Bangladesh. There is a plan to gradually expand DWDO activities in two more other districts of Bangladesh for carrying out different socio economic activities for the development and Empowerment of disabled, disadvantaged and distressed Women.  It was established in 1997 with a view to alleviating the sorrows and sufferings of the poor and extremely vulnerable women and helpless ultra poor women of the communities as well as to lead them towards their socio-economic development. The most of the working areas of DWDO are ill communicated low lying rural remote areas of Gazipur districts and the disabled people of the areas concerned are undeveloped in all aspects being deprived of all types of modern facilities. Disabled women  and girls are mostly vulnerable and they are neglected more than men irrespective of nation, race, and religion. Specifically disabled women and girls in rural and urban slum areas are mostly deprived of their basic rights and they don’t have access to need based facilities of education, employment, accessibility, health support, justice and recreational activities. Generally the disabled women and girls are also left out and excluded from decision making opportunities. Not only these, disabled women and girls are also exploited, abused and tortured differently by the opportunist people in the male dominated society. The disabled women and girls of the distressed communities suffer seriously all the year round due to various socio-economic problems. It was established with the initiative of a group of committed and dedicated women and women with disabilities. DWDO identified large number of Women with Disabilities at the grassroots level and formed 87 groups of disabled women and girls. In each group 15-25 disabled women and girls. 


It works to develop a society where all the women and Women with Disabilities will enjoy equal rights, status, dignities and opportunities in respect of human being. is to make an effort to promote rights and improve the Socio Economic condition of the disadvantaged and marginalized Women with Disabilities and other poor, distressed and destitute women through various practical trainings and innovative activities. Recently it is implementing some program for the empowerment of women and girls with disabilities. Some program such and  Leadership development training, meeting with the legal aid authority, literacy training on disabled women rights, media Campaign, meeting with the lawyer and judicial authority. By implementing the empowering of the women with disabilities project, there is a notable change in the life of targeted beneficiaries of DWDO, in  gazipur district. DWDO basically works directly with the Women with Disabilities to make them empowered for ensuring their rights and local resource mobilization and working for reduction of violence/abuse and poverty of the beneficiaries through training and advocacy. We have done our activities from the support various local and international donor. DWDO has been successful to change life-style of many women with disabilities through its activities. In the previous time an opportunity of some women with disabilities to make an opportunity of access to justice for WWDs and this was avoided and ignored but now after performing advocacy works of DWDO, opportunity of access has been a little bit flexible for Women with Disabilities. We hope, it will be more effective after completion of new activities. In the training program in which women and girls could share their experiences and they learn how to build their leadership quality and overcome the barrier in the community. This training program has several purpose. After finishing the program we have achieved our target that we hoped.  They gather information on the barriers preventing women with disabilities from accessing. It raise awareness among communities and providers of the needs of women with disabilities; and finally, to educate women living with disabilities and their families about available government facilities and their right to access those services. Those attending the workshops noted that healthcare providers often assume disabled women who are pregnant must have experienced sexual violence. We hope DWDO will be able to reduce violence against women and it will be able to develop the condition disabled of women and girls.

Reporter : Nahid Tanvir.
Date : 05th December 2016

Dhaka, Bangladesh. 

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