Bangladesh Supporting Peaceful Elections

The Supporting Peaceful Elections in Bangladesh project, funded by the U.S. Department of State Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor (DRL), aims to encourage political party leaders, citizens, and civil society activists to promote peaceful, inclusive, and participatory elections. DI is working with political party leaders at the national, sub-national, and local levels to work together on plans to mitigate politically-motivated violence, including through cross-party initiatives such as dialogues, peace rallies, and joint press conferences. To encourage peaceful participation among political party activists and politically active citizens in elections, DI is working with civil society organizations (CSOs) around the country to conduct activities to support peaceful elections. By providing technical assistance to CSOs in specific districts with histories of politically-motivated violence, DI is encouraging grassroots solutions to mitigate political violence in Bangladesh. DI is also helping CSOs to conduct nonviolence activities at the upazila and city levels in advance of upcoming elections. After the general elections in 2018, DI will support partners to implement post-election nonviolence activities to ensure the long-term sustainability of gains made under this project.