Capital: Dhaka
Area: 144,000 km²
Population: 144.3 million (July 2005)
Ethnic groups: Bengalis
Official language(s): Bengali
Religion(s): Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Christians
Currency: 1 taka = 100 poisha

SOS Children's Villages' activities in the country

Following years of fighting against the British colonial forces for independence and the painful secession from Pakistan, which cost many lives and left children orphaned, Hermann Gmeiner, the founder of the SOS Children's Villages, and Helmut Kutin, SOS-Kinderdorf International's Asia representative at the time, travelled to Bangladesh in 1972 in order to start with the SOS Children's Village work in the country. A government agreement was signed and in 1973 the first families were able to move into SOS Children's Village Dhaka, in the country's capital.

Bangladesh is one of the poorest and most densely populated countries in the world. Hurricanes and floods continuously hit it. The people are also not spared by the political unrest there. Poverty is extreme and the number of abandoned children is colossal. Therefore, further SOS Children's Villages were built in Chittagong, the largest port in the country, Khulna, Rajshahi, and in Bogra, which is in the north of the country.

In 1985 the first youths who had outgrown the SOS Children's Village moved into the SOS Youth Facility in Dhaka, where they are cared for until they are able to live on their own and are also helped in finding jobs. Youths from the neighbourhood are also able to learn a trade in the attached SOS Vocational Training Centres.

In a country where schooling is not compulsory, the illiteracy rate lies at around 62% and a third of children never attend school. The first SOS Hermann Gmeiner School in Khulna went into operation in 1987 and is today, like all SOS schools, one of the best schools in Bangladesh. The same year, SOS-Kinderdorf International decided to build the country's first SOS Social Centre in Khulna. Medical care is offered to people from the neighbourhood. Children, whose mothers work, are cared for during the day and people in difficulties are given help and advice. At the same time, these social centres provide shelter from the hurricanes and are also often used as mosques by the local people.

At present there are five SOS Children's Villages in Bangladesh, five SOS Youth Facilities, four SOS Hermann Gmeiner Schools, four SOS Vocational Training Centres, four SOS Social Centres  and four Family Strengthening Programmes. One SOS Children’s Village is under construction.

Contact:
SOS Children's Village International in Bangladesh
G.P.O.Box 546
Dhaka - 1000
Bangladesh
tel. +88-02-81 18189
fax +88-02-81 13217