In January 2023, the International Catholic Center of Geneva (CCIG) and the Marist Foundation for International Solidarity (FMSI) joined forces to ensure that Bangladesh’s Civil Society actors were able to take advantage of the upcoming 4th cycle of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) as an opportunity to increase the enjoyment of human rights throughout the country.

To accomplish this goal, an online training with two different modules was held. The first module explained how the UPR functions, highlighting Civil Society’s opportunities to participate in it, and the second gave Civil Society actors the skills needed to draft their own UPR submission and voice their concerns on the human rights situation in their country. This allows actors on the ground in Bangladesh to better communicate human rights issues directly through their UPR submission, as they have the best understanding of the challenges the country is currently facing.

As a result, training beneficiaries successfully collected relevant data through interviews with children and their families and submitted to the UN a UPR submission focusing on the human rights challenges faced by children living in Bangladesh’s Sylhet tea gardens. It recognized the need for action taken to prevent corporal punishment, child labour and child marriages, as well as to increase access to quality education, including concrete recommendations for Bangladesh to take action toward these ends.

The submission was then translated in Bangla in order to be used as an effective tool for local sensitization as well as for human rights education activities with children in school.

This capacity building activity  took place within the framework of a larger project for human rights enhancement in Bangladesh through the UPR carried out by FMSI with the support of the CCIG. The project was realized with the support of Misean Cara.

Image copyright © 2023 Marist Foundation for International Solidarity