Carers Worldwide (UK - Bangladesh)
Established in 2012 in the UK, Carers Worldwide is the only NGO working exclusively and strategically with informal (unpaid) family carers in low and middle-income countries to improve their health, finances, and wellbeing.
Informal carers are individuals of any age who care for or nurse a relative, friend or partner requiring help due to physical or mental ill health, disability, or other causes. Challenges carers face include inadequate access to public services, limited support, poor awareness of their rights, and inequitable healthcare provisions.
Caring can also significantly impact physical, mental, financial, and social wellbeing. In Bangladesh, fewer resources lead to inadequate social support, poor access to public services, and often a reduced chance to earn. Carers Worldwide’s research in Bangladesh found that 84% of carers experience physical health concerns and 65% do not have either time or money to seek treatment. 79% experience depression.
As part of a current, three-year programme in partnership with local NGO, the Centre for Disability in Development, Carers Worldwide is working with over 1,000 carers on the outskirts of Dhaka, Bangladesh, to address social isolation, poor health, and poverty.
Through this work they have identified some pressing health needs experienced by carers and those they care for which they aim to address, including vision/hearing assessments, gynaecological assessmenta, provision of assistive devices/therapy equipment, and education on nutrition and mental health.
In 2023/24, the Eurofins Foundation is contributing to this project, which will enable carers and their disabled relatives around Dhaka to access additional healthcare close to their homes and provide assistive equipment. This will result in better health outcomes for carers and cared-for individuals, such as improved eyesight, better nutrition, and increased mobility.
This project contributes to the following United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals
