Md Musa of Barguna mobilised locals in his area amid the pandemic and created a 10-member team for burial of people who died from coronavirus.
The team arranged burial of 20 bodies in the southern district.
Musa arranged food, masks, and hand sanitisers and distributed those among the destitute, and ran awareness campaigns on the virus and distributed relief materials among unemployed and poor families with support from local businesspersons and in coordination of government organisations.
Manusher Jonno Foundation (MJF) yesterday acknowledged Musa's contribution, awarding him among 10 "Heroes of the Pandemic". The awardees had all come forward voluntarily in providing food, cash, livelihood and health support, stood up against stigmatisation of vested groups, stopped or prevented child marriages, and prevented violence against women and girls during the pandemic.
On the occasion of International Human Rights Day, observed globally on December 10, MJF organised a webinar titled "Recognising Heroes of Pandemic".
The other recipients of "Manusher Jonno Heroes of Pandemic Awards-2020" are: Saifur Rahman Shakil, Rina Akhter, Kazi Taif Sadat, Tahiyatul Jannat, Sandha Rani Roy, Joyeeta Poly, Tasnuva Anan, Shotej Chakma, and Babita Khatun.
"The recognition will inspire me to work more for people," said Shakil, who arranged 150 packages of cooked food every day and distributed those among starving people living on Dhaka city's footpaths earlier this year. He distributed food among about 8,500 people, spending about Tk 4.5 lakh from his wife's and his own savings. Besides, he mobilised philanthropists and organisations to arrange food and financial support for the poor.
Shakil said whatever he did was solely on the humanitarian grounds and he did not expect anything in return.
In her welcome address, MJF Executive Director Shaheen Anam said those young men and women who were honoured risked their lives, spent from their meagre incomes and worked tirelessly to help others in distress.
"We pay our tribute to those hundreds and thousands of faceless, nameless people who, with no thought to getting recognition or reward continued to volunteer only for sake of humanity," she said.
Appreciating MJF's timely initiative, Prime Minister's International Affairs Adviser Dr Gowher Rizvi said as long as human beings have empathy and sympathy for others, everything is possible.
Addressing the event as chief guest, Dr Rizvi stressed for immediate enactment of the proposed anti-discrimination law, and the need for forming a national commission for the minorities in the country.
Dr Rizvi sought NGO's full cooperation to review all discriminatory laws that are detrimental to the interest of women rights and empowerment.
British High Commissioner to Bangladesh Robert Chatterton Dickson said, "Human rights must ensure respect to everyone in society, including the most excluded and marginalised. These ten brave human rights defenders have done wonderful frontline work to make this happen. Everyone in Bangladesh is better off as a result."
Chairing the webinar, former chairman of National Human Rights Commission Prof Mizanur Rahman said human development should be at the core of any development initiative to make it sustainable.
Christine Johansson, deputy head of mission and head of Development Cooperation at Embassy of Sweden, congratulated the awardees.
She observed that digitalisation can be used as a vehicle for human rights and democracy promotion.
Phedra Moon Morris, head of Aid at Canadian High Commission in Bangladesh, urged rich countries to come forward to address inequalities in regards to access to Covid-19 vaccines.
Henchoz Pignani Corinne, deputy head of Cooperation at Embassy of Switzerland in Bangladesh, said as a staunch advocate of human rights and founder of the UN Human Rights Council, Switzerland knows how valuable and key the daily engagement of men and women on the ground for the advancement of a right based agenda for all.
Human rights -- be it social, economic, cultural or civic -- are at the heart of Switzerland's cooperation programme in Bangladesh, she added.
During the second part of the webinar, Centre for Policy Dialogue Senior Fellow Dr Debapriya Bhattacharya delivered a talk on "Addressing Social and Economic Rights in the Context of Covid-19".
He hoped that the government in the eighth five year plan would lay out a smooth and resilient recovery path from the impact of Covid-19, especially when Bangladesh is preparing to graduate from the least developed country (LDC) status.
MJF partner NGOs from 55 areas of the country, members from various civil society organisations and NGOs, academics and human rights activists participated in the webinar.
