ECDO have celebrated World Indigenous day in Sylhet divisional head quarter on 9^th August 2011. More then ten to fifteen different local indigenous people’s organizations took participate in that day celebration. A colorful rally was arranged on the occasion of that day observation and there were more than one thousand indigenous men and women took participate in the rally bearing placard written to ensure many of their demands to the government. Among many of their demands one of the mentionable demand was to ensure constitutional rights for the indigenous peoples of the country.

After a colorful rally a discussion session was arranged at Central Shaheed Minar Chattar, Sylhet. Many non-indigenous civil society members including a local woman Member of Parliament (MP) of the ruling party Sayeda Jebunnesa Haque, Advocate Emadullah Shahidul Islam President, Sylhet Bar Association and many indigenous leaders took participate in that discussion session. Most of the speakers criticized the present government for not recognize the constitutional rights of indigenous peoples of Bangladesh. And the woman MP Sayeda Jebunnesa Haque committed she will share about the demand of indigenous peoples to Prime minister for her valuable consideration. Mentionable, that the whole program was organized by the ‘World Indigenous Day observation Committee of Sylhet’. It should be mentioned that ECDO was started celebration of World Indigenous Day in Sylhet Divisional head quarter since 2005 and still it is going on.

Ethnic Community Development Organization-ECDO launched Support to Indigenous Peoples in Plain Land-SIPPL project from 1^st July 2011 with support from Oxfam GB. ECDO already completed another project Anagrasar Gono Unnayan Project with Oxfam GB which had been started in 2007 for the period of three years. After successfully completion of that project, ECDO started the above mentioned project with Oxfam GB for the period of 1^st July 2011 to 31^st March 2014.

The main objectives of the second phase project is to develop Capacities of adibashi population at different level and local Community Based Organization-CBO’s are enhance to enable to claim their rights and entitlements from government and different service providers. And in the education sector School System strengthened for ensuring the Adibashi children have greater access to bi-lingual pre-primary education and formal education provided by NGOs and Government respectively. And the last objective is to strengthening the Women leadership to protect women rights and ending violence against women in our society. This project will be implemented in three Upozellas (Sub-district) of Sylhet district where different indigenous peoples are concentrated.

The main activities of this project is to recruit indigenous teachers at Government primary school for the convenient of indigenous children to received their lesson with the help of their mother tongue teachers, organizing School Management Committee (SMC) meeting, meeting with parents, organizing training, seminar and meeting with different stakeholder including local government representatives for ensuring the rights of local indigenous groups.

Ethnic Community Development Organization-ECDO launched Development Initiative to Promote Transforming Youth and Adolescents – DIPTYA project from 1st July 2011 with support from Manusher Jonno Foundation (MJF). It is a pilot project for ECDO with MJF. After one year capacity building trainings ECDO & MJF have an agreement for this pilot project. ECDO will arrange trainings on Income Generating Activities (IGA) for one hundred participants. All participants will be within the age limit of 15-24. The main objective of this project is 1. to develop skill for improving their socio economic status through income generating activities of young and adolescents, 2. to enhance the awareness on human rights and RTI of young and adolescents.

 Among these 100 participants 60 participants will select from women and 40 from men. They will also be ensuring about the awareness on the act of Right to Information and Women Rights as well as IGA training. ECDO will select most of the project participants from indigenous community. This project will be end on 31 March 2011 as per our agreement. It is extendable subject to our proper and quality implementation of the project.