Bangladesh

In terms of both natural and man-made emergencies, we’re working to ensure an effective and faster humanitarian response.

Working with some of the more than 700,000 Rohingya refugees in Cox’s Bazar, our work has included screening and treating children and vulnerable older people for malnutrition, achieving cure rates of above 80%. We’ve also taught over 5,000 pregnant and breastfeeding mothers and caregivers about nutrition and personal hygiene and run hundreds of cooking demonstrations for over 12,000 caregivers.

After widespread monsoon flooding and the impacts of Cyclone Amphan in 2019, we responded by providing life-saving assistance to the affected populations in the southwestern part of Bangladesh. And, since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, we have adapted our programs to respond to emerging needs.

We have launched COVID sample collections, testing, and triage booths, carried out community awareness-raising and remote infection prevention control training, established handwashing stations, distributed hygiene kits to community members, and provided cash support to those most in need.

We are working to reduce hunger and malnutrition among extremely poor households and communities in Bangladesh. Our urban program initiated a strategy of engaging local leaders to promote awareness of improving health, hygiene, and nutrition practices, resulting in an 11% increase (between 2018 and 2019) in the number of children between 6 and 23 months of age with a minimum acceptable diet.

As part of our coastal program, we’ve provided support to 1,510 households to help them address malnutrition and hunger through vegetable cultivation, agriculture practice, poultry and goat rearing, and crab and fish farming. The coastal program also supported nearly 400 families in accessing safe drinking water.

As noted in Emergency Response, our major focus in Cox’s Bazar is nutrition, with the aim of reducing mortality associated with acute malnutrition among children under 5, pregnant and lactating women, adolescent girls, the elderly, persons with disabilities, and other vulnerable groups in Rohingya refugee camps.

We are helping families living in extreme poverty to build income, assets, and returns on those assets. In 2019, in our programs in Char and coastal Bangladesh, we provided support to 78,770 people as they built up their assets and improved incomes.

Our activities focused on diversifying livelihoods, disaster risk reduction methods, and encouraging group savings. We supported communities in linking financial services and institutions to protect project participants from falling back into the cycle of poverty.

Our urban program supported a total of 1,950 families with improved livelihood options. Out of these households, 1,470 people completed business skills trainings, received cash grants upon finishing those trainings, and used those grants to launch small businesses. An additional 480 families received vocational skills training, and 265 quickly succeeded in securing work.