Asian Aid - Country Profile

Country Profile- Bangladesh

Bangladesh borders with India to the East, West and North and is known geographically as the mouth of the mighty Ganges River. On one hand this makes the region highly fertile, on the other, this can result in incredibly destructive flooding of the delta. Formerly part of the British Empire, what we currently call Bangladesh was separated from India in 1947 to become East Pakistan because of its majority Muslim population. Declared independent from Pakistan in 1971, Bangladesh has made huge progress in recent decades. Despite this, there are still millions of desperately poor people living in abject poverty. Like India, most of the population live in rural areas however Bangladesh is even more overpopulated than its large neighbour.

Facts and Stats according to UNICEF (2001):

Population: approximately 140 million.
The average person is 19.7 years old.
77 children and babies in 1000 under the age of 5 die.
Life expectancy at birth is 60 years.
Women have an average of 3.6 children each.
29% of the population live on less than $1.00 per day.
48% of children under five are moderately or severely underweight.

Other Facts and Stats:

69% of women are illiterate.
Approximately 85% of the population is Muslim, with the remainder almost all Hindu.

Asian Aid's Role

Asian Aid began work in Bangladesh in the late 1970's with the sponsorship of children from very poor families in SDA schools. Sponsorship reached its peak in 1997 with 1280 children in the program.

We currently sponsor 850 children in Bangladesh. As this nation has become more self-sufficient, and as it has received more funds from international donors in recent years, our work has been scaled back as we focus on more needy areas. Of course all of the children we sponsor are very poor.

“Do not be afraid little flock, for your father has been pleased to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions and give to the poor.” ( Luke 12:32 )