Published: 06:31 PM, 25 August 2017 Last Update: 06:33 PM, 25 August 2017
‘BD poverty level declines but challenge of extreme poverty remains’
Some 25 lakh households in Bangladesh live in extreme poverty, according to a non-government development organisation.
Bangladesh has reduced its poverty level to 27 percent but the challenge of extreme poverty still remains and women are disproportionately affected, the organisation said in its Annual Report 2016.
Pockets of extreme poverty are particularly prevalent in the hard-to-reach regions where often entire communities lack access to basic services and limited economic opportunities.
"We're working towards eliminating extreme poverty completely from Bangladesh by 2030 through a powerful combination of direct and complimentary efforts," Brac said in its Annual Report a copy of which UNB obtained.
The report in its 'eliminating extreme poverty' section said people living in extreme poverty are forced to make impossible choices every single day about basic necessities such as food, medicine, housing and education.
"Extreme poverty is more than numbers. It's the denial of dignity," the report said highlighting the challenges ahead.
"As much progress has been made globally to alleviate poverty in all its forms, we are now on intent on eradicating it," reads the report.
Brac says they are taking a specially integrated approach in poverty pockets such as wetlands, riverine islands and indigenous populations.
"Pockets of extreme poverty exist all across Bangladesh, often in remote settings with limited infrastructure," it said.
Brac said 86,975 households graduated from extreme poverty in the country last year bringing the total number of households that have graduated from extreme poverty in Bangladesh to 17.7 lakh.
