These beautiful handicrafts showcase employment opportunities for gender-diverse individuals

An initiative of TransEnd, a handicrafts fair, was held on Friday afternoon, aiming to empower the marginalised transgender, hijra and gender-diverse community of Bangladesh.

The unique fair featured five stalls showcasing a wide range of products, starting from colorful jewelries and dresses, tie-dye and screen-printed t-shirts to tote-bags, hand-poured candles, and jars of pickles, all of which were made by trained members of the gender-diverse community. The proud makers of the products were present to display their artistries to the invited guests and the intrigued crowd.

Under the "Improving Livelihood of the Transgender Community" project of Transend, supported by Youth Co:Lab and Citi Foundation, 20 transgender people were provided with Handicrafts and Beautification training to help them be employed or seek entrepreneurship opportunities. 

In the presence of Daniel J Buchman, Consular Officer, US Embassy Dhaka, Transgender rights activist Shanjiboni, Mahmudul Hasan, Programme Officer and Youth Coordinator, UNDP, Mozammel Haque, Programme Analyst, UNDP Bangladesh, employers and beneficiaries of the training programmes shared their experiences in a formal ceremony.

"Due to the downpour, a few guests could not make it but the event was purposefully successful due to the presence of many individuals from marginalised communities." remarked Lamea Tanjin Tanha, Founder & CEO of TransEnd.

The fair took place at the Muzaffar Ahmed Chowdhury Auditorium, Social Science Building, Dhaka University.