Bangladesh

Bangladesh is one of the world’s poorest countries. Among older men and women, poverty is deep and widespread, exacerbated by extreme weather such as heatwaves, floods and cyclones that kill thousands every year, destroy homes and wreck older people’s livelihoods. Older people are often refused healthcare in an ageist public health service and the lack of reliable incomes mean many older people struggle to meet their day-to-day needs.

Working with communities at risk of natural disasters, we build the resilience of older people and their families by reducing the impact of cyclones and heat waves and supporting people as they recover.

We help put in place early warning systems to give people time to reach safety and develop effective evacuation plans to initiate once the alarm has sounded, ensuring any vulnerable person is not left behind in any danger.

Once the storm has settled or the water subsided, we rebuild older people’s lives by ensuring they have shelter, food and access to the services in the short term, and in the long-term help restore livelihoods by supporting small business enterprises with low-cost community loans.

Our health work in Bangladesh focuses on improving care for older people. We train parents, carers, midwives, nurses, doctors and community health workers in treating conditions that impact older people. We’re also helping to improve local health infrastructure and referral systems so that older people can get better care faster.

Around one million refugees who fled persecution in Myanmar to Bangladesh are now living in sprawling camps close to Cox’s Bazar. Older people make up a significant proportion of this population and many are in dire need of support.

We are helping those most at risk, including older people, through our three age-friendly spaces in one of the permanent camps in Cox’s Bazar. These provide health screenings and home-based care in the camp community, access to age-friendly latrines, and ensure older people reach the services they need.