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Rina earns a regular income from her own businessA smiling woman holds tomatoes she has grownA smiling woman holds tomatoes she has grown

Bangladesh

Bangladesh

Why are we in Bangladesh? Bangladesh is one of the world’s most densely populated countries; home to over 160 million people in a country just over twice the size of Ireland. Economic crisis, resulting from the Ukraine war, is threatening to roll back years of remarkable progress in poverty reduction.

Strong economic growth in recent years significantly improved the lives of Bangladeshis, but the the fallout from the Ukraine war has threatened to push millions of people back into extreme poverty.

Rising fuel prices have slowed economic growth and pushed inflation to nearly 10%.

Extremely high rates of malnutrition affect tens of millions of people in Bangladesh

Nearly 35 million Bangladeshis suffer moderate or severe food insecurity.

Compounding these problems, flash flooding in 2022 impacted more than 7.2 million people, leaving 4 million in need of humanitarian assistance.

Bangladesh hosts approximately 900,000 Rohingya refugees who have fled from persecution in Myanmar to live in Cox’s Bazar - the world’s largest refugee camp.

Latest achievements

Emergency response

Responding to flash flooding in Sylhet region, Concern provided 5,000 households with food packages and water purification tablets. Once the markets recovered, Concern provided another 2,085 households with cash grants to enable them to recover and rebuild.

Urban poverty

Rohingya response

Bangladesh Strategic Plan 2022 - 2026

Concern Worldwide Bangladesh’s Country Strategic Plan 2022 - 2026 aims to contribute to bringing sustainable, positive changes in the lives of people living in extreme poverty in Bangladesh.

We will achieve this through working on five particular pillars – ensuring sustained change from our programmes (predominantly in the health, nutrition and livelihoods sectors); climate change; humanitarian action; working through partnership; and equality, diversity and inclusion.

We deliver programmes following five strategic objectives, aligned with the Government priorities outlined in the 8th Five Year Plan of the Government and with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG).

People use a flood level indicator to anticipate flood danger levels
People in the Char area use a flood level indicator to anticipate flood danger levels to reduce losses. (Photo: Concern Worldwide Bangladesh)
Health volunteers reach out to households in poor urban areas with nutrition & health services
Health volunteers reach out to households in poor urban areas with nutrition & health services. (Photo: Concern Worldwide Bangladesh)
Senowara in her homestead garden
Senowara is producing vegetables to improve livelihood and nutrition in her homestead garden in Cox's Bazaar. (Photo: Concern Worldwide Bangladesh, 2020)
A live performance of health promotion song in Bangladesh
A live performance of Pot Song; a cultural tool promoting good nutritional behaviour and raising mass awareness on how to improve nutrition in the coastal areas of Bangladesh. (Photo: Concern Worldwide Bangladesh, 2021)
Mehrun is now able to protect her cattle and livestock from floods after her house was raised to a height above flood level.
Mehrun is now able to protect her cattle and livestock from floods after her house was raised to a height above flood level. (Photo: Concern Worldwide Bangladesh)

Our proud history in Bangladesh

We have been fighting extreme poverty in Bangladesh since 1972. For 50 years, we have worked with the most vulnerable people to reduce extreme poverty.

Further resources

You can find out a lot more about our work in Bangladesh - including the areas of Climate Change and Flood Resilience - by clicking on the following documents.

How we're helping Bangladesh

We are working hard to combat suffering and build resilience in Bangladesh. We are doing this by establishing programmes which will reduce poverty, respond to emergencies and improve health and nutrition.

Emergency response
Urban poverty
Rohingya response
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