CARE in Bangladesh

Thirty five years since gaining independence in 1971, Bangladesh is still one of the world’s poorest nations.

In Bangladesh we:

improve access to clean water and sanitation
improve agriculture, for example teaching farmers new farming techniques
fight HIV and AIDS

We work in some of the poorest areas of Bangladesh – areas which receive relatively little attention from other national and international organisations.

Our staff often live in very remote areas, alongside the communities they work with. The community then gets involved at every level of our work, often taking the lead in planning and running our projects.

CARE in action:

Every day needs
We work with around 12 million people in 64 districts of Bangladesh. We focus on giving people a basic education and ensuring they can get to hospitals and clinics for treatment when they need it. We also build clean water supplies and sanitation facilities including toilets; and train people to develop small businesses and agricultural work.

Fighting HIV and AIDS
Intravenous drug use is a major problem in Dhaka Bangladesh and it is estimated that 90 per cent of users share needles. However, we are combating a threat that could become an epidemic.

We run 52 drop in centres in Dhaka – some of them through local NGOs (Non Governmental Organisations). At the centres, there is a trained nurse, HIV support and education, opportunities to detox, peer education sessions, free condoms and a needle exchange programme – which is also available on the streets at so-called ‘drug hotspots’. People can also wash and eat, watch tv, read, or learn vocational skills to help them gain employment.

Working in partnership
We work with some of Bangladesh’s most poor and vulnerable people in the country’s rural areas. We help them to increase the quality and quantity of the crops they grow and sell their produce to a variety of markets, including to big companies.

We are working towards building on our work with the private sector in the future. Our intention is to create an even better working relationships with Bangladeshi companies, so that we can encourage them to get involved in the continuing development of the nation.