Bangladesh
Newsline
UNICEF distributes biscuits to malnourished children during ‘rat flood’ food crisis
BELAICHARI, Bangladesh, 26 August 2008 – UNICEF and the UN World Food Programme (WFP) are distributing food relief in the Chittagong Hill Tracts region of south-eastern Bangladesh, where a plague of rats is devastating crops and triggering a food crisis.
Hygiene promoters teach safe sanitation practices in Bangladesh
HATITILA, Bangladesh, 31 July 2008 – At the community development centre in Hatitila, a remote village in the Chittagong Hill Tracts of Bangladesh, Athoi Marma, 19, teaches songs about safe hygiene practices to 20 pre-school children. The songs are in Marma, an indigenous language spoken by only around 150,000 people in Bangladesh.
Using theatre to raise awareness of bird flu prevention in Bangladesh
DHAKA, Bangladesh, 22 May, 2008 – With its feel of suburban comfort, Dhour village in the Harirampur Union does not look like a typical Bangladeshi town. But, like many towns in Bangladesh, Dhour is home to many small poultry farms. In most households of this village, chickens are as much at home as the residents, roaming as freely inside the houses as they move in the backyards.
Symposium on poverty recommends child-sensitive social protection in South Asia
DHAKA, Bangladesh, 21 April 2008 – Policy makers and experts from eight countries met in Dhaka last week for a symposium to address poverty. The symposium focused on how expanded social protection could serve as a strategy to transform social policy and reduce economic and social vulnerability, especially for children.
Community outreach on hygiene for cyclone-affected families in Bangladesh
GABTALI, Bangladesh, 19 March 2008 – Pushi is very clean, washing her hands with water and soap whenever she uses the latrine and rinsing out the latrine pan when she is finished. Bulu, on the other hand, never washes his hands. After going to the latrine, he wipes them on his trousers.
Tatulia: A Bangladesh village in dire need of safe water
TATULIA VILLAGE, Bangladesh, 29 January 2008 – Tatulia, a small village at the bank of the Modhumoti river, is home to around 116 families. Last year, erosion from the river washed away one fourth of the village. Some people left the village altogether while others moved to safer locations.
Bringing good hygiene to rural Bangladesh through ‘Para Centres’
BARAICHARI, Bangladesh, 22 January 2008 – In a classroom made of tin in the Baraichari Village preschool, five-year-old Umenu Marma and her friend clap each other’s hands and sing along to the beat. However, this typical children’s game has a twist – these girls are singing a rhyme their teacher taught them about good hygiene, which translates as, “If you don’t brush your teeth regularly they will hurt, but if you brush regularly, you can eat anything.”
Goodwill Ambassador Shakira reaches out to cyclone survivors in rural Bangladesh
PATUAKHALI, Bangladesh, 21 December 2007 – Internationally acclaimed singer, musician and UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador Shakira traveled to Bangladesh recently and met with women and children whose lives have been affected by Cyclone Sidr.
After the storm, Bangladesh cyclone survivors struggle through trying times
BAGERHAT, Bangladesh, 6 December 2007 – It was close to noon in Khuriakhali Bazaar, a market in the Sharankhola sub-district of Bagerhat, when the UNICEF team arrived after a long walk.
Child-friendly spaces provide a safe place to recover after Cyclone Sidr
PATUAKHALI, Bangladesh, 30 November 2007 – It is 7:00 in the morning, and approximately 200 children have gathered on the roof of a government office in cyclone-ravaged Subidkhali village. They are waiting for the doors to open on ‘Amader Jaiga’ (My Place) – a day care and safe space for child victims of cyclone Sidr.
UN Joint Mission visits cyclone survivors in Bangladesh
DHAKA, Bangladesh, 23 November 2007 – A week after Cyclone Sidr pummelled Bangladesh, the survivors are struggling to pick up the pieces. A roof overhead, food, water and sanitation are the most critical needs.
Eyewitness account reveals devastating impact of cyclone in southern Bangladesh
BARISAL, Bangladesh, 19 November 2007 – The winds howled all night and the rain came down in sheets. The following morning, A. H. Towfique Ahmed set out to visit the local area. He found that cyclone Sidr had rocked the coast of Bangladesh to destruction.
Cyclone in Bangladesh: UNICEF and partners join emergency relief effort
NEW YORK, USA, 18 November 2007 – UNICEF and its humanitarian partners in Bangladesh are rushing emergency supplies to hundreds of thousands of families in areas devastated by Cyclone Sidr, the deadliest storm to hit the impoverished nation in a decade.
A life lived in ‘exit mode’ – floods continue to bring destruction
DHAKA, Bangladesh, 21 September 2007 – Even as they are beginning to piece their lives back together, residents of Dhaka, Bangladesh are bracing themselves for a second round of flooding in as many months. Many houses have bamboo rafts tied close to their homes, symbolizing a life lived in ‘exit mode’.
Women and children still suffering the effects of monsoon floods
SIRAJGANJ DISTRICT, Bangladesh, 4 September 2007 – Last month, 45-year-old Amena awoke to discover that monsoon-related flooding was filling her home with rushing water. As if in a dream, she felt the strong pull of a hand as she was taken to the safety of a nearby embankment.
Relief supplies provided to flood-affected communities in Bangladesh
SIRAJGANJ DISTRICT, Bangladesh, 14 August 2007 – The devastation caused by the monsoon flooding of last month is visible throughout Bangladesh, but nowhere more than on the faces of the survivors themselves in Sirajganj, a flood-stricken northwestern district.
Millions affected by floods in Bangladesh face ‘a desperate situation’
NEW YORK, USA, 7 August 2007 – This year’s monsoon rains have caused unprecedented human suffering in Bangladesh. More than half of the country’s 64 districts are severely affected. Vast areas of land and crops are submerged, and millions of people have been left homeless.
Birth Registration Day helps ensure basic human rights in Bangladesh
DHAKA, Bangladesh, 9 July 2007 – Last week the Government of Bangladesh officially observed national Birth Registration Day in order to highlight the importance of birth certificates for adults and children alike.
UNICEF doctor steps in to perform emergency caesarean at a rural hospital
CHAUGHACHHA, Bangladesh, 3 July 2007 – In rural areas of Bangladesh, surgery is never a straightforward operation. When 20-year-old Lipy arrived at the Chaugachha Upazila health complex, the doctors told her that she would require a caesarean section in order to save her baby.
Bangladesh and Bermuda cricketers stamp out HIV/AIDS stigma
ARANGUEZ, Trinidad, 23 March 2007 – ICC World Cup 2007 cricketers from Bangladesh and Bermuda teamed up with children and young people in Trinidad on Thursday to help break the stigma surrounding HIV and AIDS.
Rock-and-roll benefit concerts: Music to UNICEF’s ears
NEW YORK, USA, 7 December 2006 – UNICEF has started many trends over the years. One of the most influential – the rock-and-roll benefit concert – began in 1971, when George Harrison and Ravi Shankar teamed up with UNICEF to raise money for children and families fleeing the war in what was then East Pakistan.
Nobel Laureate Muhammad Yunus honoured at UN for fighting poverty
NEW YORK, New York, 22 November 2006 – Nobel Peace Prize recipient Muhammad Yunus, founder of the Grameen Bank and the ‘microcredit’ principle, was honoured at the UN this week for his work to eliminate poverty and empower women worldwide.
Muhammad Yunus, microcredit pioneer and UNICEF partner, awarded Nobel Peace Prize
NEW YORK, USA, 13 October 2006 – This year’s Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to Muhammad Yunus of Bangladesh, a pioneer in microcredit lending whose Grameen Bank has partnered with UNICEF on development projects benefiting vulnerable women and children.
The hard road home for young camel jockeys from Bangladesh
MOHESHPUR, Bangladesh, 18 September 2006 – On a dry rice field that has been transformed into a football pitch, 13-year-old Rubel and his 11-year-old brother Shumon struggle to control the ball against their older and taller adversaries.
Reducing arsenic poisoning in Bangladesh
MUNSHIGANJ, Bangladesh, 11 September 2006 – Salma Begum would lie awake at night, unable to sleep for worrying about who would take care of her children if she died of cancer. Although she hadn’t been diagnosed, what else could explain the discolourings on her arms, the pain and lesions, the feeling that her skin was burning?
Empowering girls by challenging the tradition of child marriage
CHAPAI NAWABGANJ, Bangladesh, 31 August 2006 – Less than a year ago, Mosamad Mounjera Khatun watched as her future was decided without her consent. Her parents had arranged for her to be married, though she was only 14-years old. Like most young brides, she would have been forced to drop out of school and work in her in-laws’ household.
Fighting AIDS and drug use in Bangladesh, one needle at a time
RAJSHAHI, Bangladesh, 25 August 2006 – Carrying a large umbrella to shield herself from the hot sun, Mosammat Sabera Yasmin walks along a narrow alley in a poor neighbourhood in this western Bangladeshi city. The young woman is visiting the house of a heroin addict who has just returned from rehab.
Opening school doors for girls and disadvantaged children in Bangladesh
NARSHINGDI, Bangladesh, 16 August 2006 – Down a warren of shanties built with corrugated steel and thatched wood, Morzina Begum and her parents live in a one-room shack, sharing a common kitchen and toilet with several other families.
Communities in Bangladesh unite to stop injuries, a top killer of children
RAIGANJ, Bangladesh, 7 August 2006 – As the day drew to a close, the entire village of Roha gathered to answer a difficult question. A week earlier, a four-year-old girl, Ashamoni, drowned in a pond. Her father was at work in a garment factory. Her mother was busy watching her four other children and didn’t notice that Ashamoni had decided to take a swim.
George Harrison honoured on 35th anniversary of ‘Concert for Bangladesh’
NEW YORK, USA, 1 August 2006 – Thirty-five years after George Harrison’s ‘Concert for Bangladesh’ raised over $15 million for UNICEF, the late Beatle has been inducted into the Madison Square Garden ‘Walk of Fame’.
Bangladesh launches mass immunization campaign after polio re-emerges
CHANDPUR, Bangladesh, 13 April 2006 – After a five-year absence, polio has re-emerged in Bangladesh, sending a fresh alert and boosting eradication efforts across the country. But the national initiative to stop the crippling waterborne disease came too late for nine-year-old Rahima Akhter in the town of Chandpur.
Shamima’s story: Bringing clean water and hygiene to a Bangladesh slum area
New York, USA, 11 April 2006 – Shamima Shetu, 17, goes door to door in her home community of Comilla, Bangladesh, armed with a set of simple instructions and a watercolour painting. The painting has two sides depicting two versions of the world – one where water is dirty and sanitation practices are unhealthy, the other where water is clean and community sanitation is very good.
Girls transform slum area in Bangladesh by educating their neighbours on hygienic living
DHAKA, Bangladesh, 15 March 2006 – Dolly Akter has a simple theory: “Life is for help.” The 16-year-old will have a chance to help and influence many people this week when she takes part in the Children’s World Water Forum in Mexico City.
Children’s news agency changing the face of Bangladeshi media
DHAKA, Bangladesh, 2 February 2006 – It looked like any other press conference in the capital, but there was one big difference: on this particular day it was Bangladesh’s top newspaper editors on the receiving end of pointed questions – from children.
Bangladesh prepares to conduct the world’s largest-ever measles immunization campaign
DHAKA, Bangladesh, 17 February 2006 – Some 33.5 million Bangladeshi children are the target of the world’s largest-ever measles immunization campaign. The government – with support from UNICEF, the World Health Organization (WHO) and other partners – is preparing supplies, health workers, volunteers and the public for the start of this unprecedented three-week campaign, which begins on 25 February.
Public information plays key role in Bangladesh measles campaign
SARIAKANDI, Bangladesh, 22 September 2005 – This sleepy outback community by the banks of the Brahmaputra River is located about 200 km from the national capital, Dhaka. Sariakandi’s people are accustomed to dealing with problems: erosion, floods, poverty and unemployment.
Camel jockeys coming home
DHAKA, 16 August 2005 - A bus full of children is on its way to a shelter here in the Bangladeshi capital. The children, some as young as four years old, look tired and are unusually subdued. After spending years working as camel jockeys in the United Arab Emirates, they are home at last following an agreement between UNICEF and the UAE Government.
Child injury occurs every two minutes
DHAKA, Bangladesh, 4 August 2005 – It seemed just like any other day. Thirteen-year-old Rahman was at home when his father returned with a bottle of kerosene he had purchased from a local grocery store. As dusk approached, Rahman poured some kerosene into a lamp and lit the wick. No one could have imagined the result – a deadly explosion.
Bangladeshi TV’s account of a real-life hero is nominated for international award
DHAKA/NEW YORK, 15 November 2004 – In 1996, nine-year-old Abul Khair averted a train accident in Bangladesh, saving the lives of hundreds of people. He warned the driver of the train about a dislocated rail track, by waving a red piece of cloth tied to a stick. Abdul’s actions were depicted in a 25-minute documentary made for the 2003 International Children's Day of Broadcasting (ICDB).
Vitamin A campaign reaches 18 million to help recover from flood
DHAKA, BANGLADESH/NEW YORK, 10 November 2004 - More than 18 million children in Bangladesh have received potentially life saving Vitamin A capsules after floods this year destroyed crops and left large parts of the country without food. One million children already face acute malnutrition and the crisis could continue for another year unless further action is taken.
Bangladesh launches new website
2 November 2004 -- The brand new UNICEF Bangladesh website is launching today.
Children face year of food shortages after floods wreck harvests
NEW YORK, 29 September 2004 – Recent floods have destroyed crops in Bangladesh, leaving large parts of the country without food. One million children are already facing acute malnutrition and UNICEF warns the crisis could continue for a year if urgent action isn’t taken.
Children’s lives threatened as latest floods hit Bangladesh
DHAKA, Bangladesh, 24 September 2004 - More than a million children in Bangladesh are facing acute malnutrition after the heaviest rainfall in 50 years caused widespread destruction. This is the second flood to devastate the country in recent months, and vital crops have been destroyed.
Floodwaters threaten lives of children in Bangladesh
DHAKA/NEW YORK, 28 July 2004 – Overflowing sewers mixing with floodwaters are putting the health of millions of children at risk in Bangladesh’s capital city of Dhaka.
11 million hit as floods worsen in Bangladesh
NEW YORK, 21 July 2004 – More than 11 million children and adults in Bangladesh have now been affected by severe floods sweeping across South Asia. It is believed that around 100 people have died.
Deadly floods displace millions in Bangladesh and across South Asia
NEW YORK, 15 July 2004 – As the monsoon season continues in full force in South Asia, nearly five million children, women and men in Bangladesh have been directly affected by extreme flooding resulting from very heavy rainfall.
