The inauguration ceremony of the “Gateway to SRHR” website commenced with the applause of a group of persons with disabilities, disability and women rights activists, and think tanks at the YPSA head office conference room on 24 March 2021. It is the first integrated accessible informational platform on sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) for persons with disabilities in Bangladesh.
The program was followed by Md. Arifur Rahman, Chief Executive of YPSA, welcoming all the dignitaries present at the ceremony and participants from various parts of Chattogram, colleagues and students with disabilities. He mentioned in his welcome speech about the significance of the platform and its aim to introduce and promote disability-inclusive accessible SRHR in Bangladesh. “We are grateful to Share-Net International Netherlands for its support throughout the entire process”, said Md. Arifur Rahman.
In his address, Vashkar Bhattacharjee, National Consultant on Accessibility of Bangladesh Government and Disability focal of YPSA, laid out the detailed purpose of this website which is to introduce and promote disability-inclusive accessible SRHR in Bangladesh by developing a resource hub, showcasing the efforts and outcomes of the organizations, academicians, researchers who are working on sexual and reproductive health rights and rights of persons with disabilities. He urged everyone to promote this platform and share opinion about the future development of this website.
The platform was formally inaugurated by renowned disability rights activist and Chittagong University professor Mostafa Kamal Jatra. In his address, he congratulated YPSA for taking such an initiative and emphasized that it is high time to undertake many more initiatives similar to this. Besides, he mentioned that it is necessary to promote this platform via different online and offline media so that the stakeholders and beneficiaries who are not present at the inauguration could know and benefit from this platform.
Among the other, disability and women rights activist Sadia Tazin, Shaheda Khanom, disability rights activist and accessibility expert Md. Rashedujjaman Chowdhury were present at the ceremony. The detailed briefing and a presentation on the website was presented by Abdullah Al Shakir and Shahriar MD Shiblee.
YPSA created the website under its project “Introduce and Promote Disability-Inclusive Accessible SRHR for All” supported by Share-Net International, Netherlands.
