Policy Without Practice: Tokenistic Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities in Bangladesh’s Union Parishads — A Multi-Site Qualitative Study

Abstract

Background: Bangladesh ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) in 2007 and enacted the Persons with Disabilities Rights and Protection Act in 2013, yet the presence of persons with disabilities (PWDs) in local decision-making remains marginal. Union Parishads (UPs), the lowest tier of rural local government, are where citizenship is most directly experienced, but they have rarely been studied through a disability lens.

Objective: To examine (i) how far disability-inclusive provisions are integrated into UP governance, (ii) which sociocultural, legal and institutional factors restrict the participation of PWDs, and (iii) how stakeholders respond to the resulting gaps.

Methods: A multi-site qualitative exploratory design was used across ten UPs in ten districts (five peri-urban, five rural). Data comprised 50 key informant interviews (10 UP chairmen, 20 ward members [10 male, 10 female], 10 social welfare officers and 10 NGO representatives), two focus group discussions, one in-depth case study and document review. Data were analysed using reflexive thematic analysis, interpreted through the social model of disability, Arnstein’s ladder of citizen participation and intersectionality, and synthesised in a SWOT matrix. Reporting follows COREQ.

Results: Five themes emerged: (1) a policy–practice gap, in which legal provisions exist but elected representatives have limited knowledge of them and no monitoring mechanism enforces them; (2) stigma rooted in moral/religious explanations of disability; (3) inaccessible offices, transport and polling arrangements, worst in hill and flood-prone areas; (4) financial exclusion, whereby allowances meet subsistence needs but cannot fund candidacy; and (5) a gendered “double burden” for women with disabilities. Observed participation clustered at the tokenistic rungs of Arnstein’s ladder (informing, consultation, placation); no PWD held an elected or committee position in the study unions.

Conclusion: Disability inclusion in Bangladesh’s local government is formally recognised but practically tokenistic. Enforceable committee representation, a reserved-seat or quota mechanism, accessibility audits of UP premises and polling stations, and disability-rights training for elected representatives are needed to move PWDs from beneficiaries to decision-makers, in line with SDG targets 10.2 and 16.7.