Land rights should be first on the agenda if we want to ensure the rights of the people, National Human Rights Commission Chairman Kazi Reazul Hoque has said.

“Not only on plain lands, the ethnic communities living on the hills are also facing a lot of trouble regarding land rights,” he told the attendees of ‘Connecting Youth for Human Rights’ as the event’s chief guest.

‘’We all knows that land rights is a basic human rights of all. Land is the source of all conflicts. So, it is essential to establish land rights for all people, especially for those who have fallen behind,” he added.

The ‘Youth for Human Rights’ was a day-long conference held on 20 November at the Krishibid Institution (KIB) in Dhaka, organised jointly by the NHRC and United Nations Development Programme’s Human Rights Programme

The day included a celebration of ethnic cultures in the form of a cultural show, a film shows on violence against women, an exposition of Youth activism, a motivational speech by famous writer and journalist Anisul Hoque and a session on formulation of the National Youth Action Plan in line with the National Youth Policy 2017.

Around 170 youth leaders (including youth from 15 ethnic and excluded minority groups, third gender, persons with disabilities, who were trained by the HRP) from 15 districts attended the event to share their experiences. These youth leaders have been working to raise awareness about human rights in their own communities since receiving the trainings.

“I believe this experience sharing initiative will help the youth leaders a lot. Not only can they learn from each other, the sharing will also serve to increase their courage and motivation,” Sharmeela Rassool, HRP’s Chief Technical Advisor, said. 

The programme was also attended by Md Anwarul Islam Sarker, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Youth and Sports.