Ultra-poor char people's rights to development and accessibility to public services: A case of Bangladesh

• This study reported the data from a case study on the ultra-poor char land areas in Bangladesh.
• Most of the ultra-poor people did not know about their rights.
• The physical, psychological, and sexual violations were found common in the char land areas.
• The lack of education and awareness were main obstacles against the access of local services.

This study featured the ultra-poor char people's rights to development and accessibility to public services in char land areas at the Sirajganj district in Bangladesh. The study applied a mixed method approach, where quantitative data was collected from 255 households using a structured interview schedule and qualitative data using focus group discussions (FGD), participant observation, participatory rural appraisal (PRA), key informants interviews (KII), and in-depth case studies. The findings revealed that most of the ultra-poor people did not know their rights and half of them, particularly women, were found silent in sharing their experiences of the violations of rights. These violations are rarely reported to the respective authorities (e.g., village court, police station or court). It was noted that a significant number of the ultra-poor noticed that they often visited local services institutions, and their satisfaction level was very low. The findings would be an important guideline to the governmental and non-governmental organizations (GOs and NGOs) to formulate development policies for the ultra-poor people in Bangladesh.