South Asia

Two thirds of the world’s poorest people live in Asia. India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Nepal are home to almost 500 million people living on less than $1 a day. For poor people in these countries, deaf children are often not a priority. According to the WHO research published in 1998, there are 123 million peoplve in the world with a moderate to severe hearing loss and the majority of them live in South Asia. Deaf Child Worldwide is working to make sure deaf children in the region have a voice and are able to access their rights and have a fulfilling role to play in society.

Deaf Child Worldwide's first country programme was in India, and we continue to develop our work in Sri Lanka, Nepal and Bangladesh through our Small Grants Programme.

India

We have been working in India since 2003 and are currently developing activities in Karnataka and West Bengal. In February 2009, we started a multi state DFID funded project with our new partner Sanchar, working in West Bengal, Assam, Madhya Pradesh and Orissa. India is Deaf Child Worldwide's largest country programme and our presence really is needed as it is estimated that there are over 3.6 million deaf children in India below the age of 15 yrs.