With the support of USAID's Shomota Project, Bandhu Social Welfare Society (Bandhu) has been dedicated to establishing an inclusive and discrimination-free workplace for the gender-diverse population in Bangladesh. A key objective of this endeavor is to generate job opportunities for the community and as part of this initiative, Bandhu is actively engaged in providing orientation to various organizations and corporate agencies on gender and sexuality.

This orientation initiative marks pioneering effort by Bandhu to enhance understanding regarding diversity, gender and sexuality. On November 10, 2023, Bandhu conducted an orientation session on gender and sexuality for the employees of the American Solidarity Center in Bangladesh. A total of 45 employees from Solidarity Center along with two employees from the headquarters participated in the session.

During the session, participants received orientation on physiological sex, gender, sexual orientation, gender expression and how to create an inclusive space for gender-diverse individuals. Bandhu has formalized its commitment to this by signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Solidarity Center paving the way for the regular recruitment of gender-diverse individuals. This signifies a commitment to fostering the inclusion of diverse populations in every social setting.

The session was led by Ruhul Robin Khan, Specialist- PR, Communications and Documentation of Shomota Project with the support of other two project colleagues Mst. Tamima Nasrin, Specialist-Capacity Building & Empowerment, and Mx. Sumsul Islam Polok, Senior Officer-MEL.