Bangladesh	Australia
Population	141 Million	19.9 million
National language	Bengali	English
Capital city	Dhaka	Canberra
GDP per capita (US$ per year, 2002)	1,900	$29,000
Infant mortality rate (per 1000 live births)	64.32	4.76
Life expectancy (years)	61.71	80.3
Access to safe drinking water (2000)	97%	100%
Youth literacy	43.1% (2003 est.)	100%
HIV/AIDS adult prevalence rate (2003 est.)	less than 0.1% (2001 est.)	0.1%
People living with HIV/AIDS (2003 est.)	13,000 (2001 est.)	14,000
HIV/AIDS deaths (2003 est.)	650 (2001 est.)	less than 200
Human development index 2004 rank /177	138 (mediium)	3

Why Plan works in Bangladesh

Bangladesh is a small country that consists mainly of flat alluvial plains, located on the delta of the Padna River. The country is often subject to floods and cyclones during the monsoon season. Bangladesh is one of the poorest countries in the world.

Poverty impacts on the people�s ability to access health services owing to high costs. Furthermore, the number of health facilities is very low and the quality of the services they offer is often very poor. Almost 50% of children under five are underweight due to malnutrition. Some causes of infant mortality are acute respiratory infections, malnutrition, diarrhoea and other intestinal infections.

Primary school enrolment is quite high, although only about a third of these students go on to secondary education. However, for those who do progress the quality of educational facilities and services is low.

Although more than 90% of the population in Bangladesh has access to potable water, there is only enough for drinking purposes. This leads to a deficiency in sanitation and domestic water provision. There is also a large disparity between the rural and the urban areas. Recurrent floods also pose a threat to the sanitation, sewage and water systems.

The housing conditions are poor, especially in rural and urban slum areas. Other basic services such as electricity and road networks are inadequate in the rural areas. This also poses an obstacle for children, who are often not able to reach their schools. Environmental degradation, particularly deforestation, is further exacerbated by poverty and high population density. Low family income, resulting in food insecurity, forces many children to work in order to make ends meet.

Plan programs in Bangladesh

Habitat

Bangladesh is a predominately agricultural country. However, there is a general lack of knowledge about modern farming practices in the communities where Plan works. Many people still use traditional agricultural methods that result in small, low-quality crops. In collaboration with government agencies an agricultural extension program has been initiated offering participants training in agricultural technology, livestock and integrated pest management and control and kitchen gardening.

Growing Up Healthy

Plan�s program addresses community health care, including major interventions such as establishing health posts and community clinics, training for community health workers, volunteers, and village health practitioners, community education and awareness raising, supplementary feeding including growth monitoring for severely malnourished children and pregnant mothers, tube well installation, domestic latrine construction, implementation of sewage disposal systems, support for polio eradication and adolescent health care.

Learning

Plan aims to increase the knowledge of early childhood care and development, increase successful completion of primary education and increase girls� enrolment in and completion of secondary education formally and non-formally. It also is increasing access to technical and vocational skills especially for adolescents. Three broad program initiatives: basic education, alternative education and school quality improvement, are aimed at increasing the capacity of poor families, especially women and children, to work collaboratively for social change through community institutions.

Livelihood

While many poor families have ideas for starting their own small businesses, few have access to funds to begin such an endeavour. In its Family Economic Security program Plan Bangladesh is working with its partners to ensure quality and innovative financial services, agricultural extension training and services, vocational training for vulnerable poor people, children and communities.

Map of Bangladesh

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