Team Hafezzi Stands Beside Countless Families with Disabilities in Their Silent Struggle
Persons with disabilities in Bangladesh do not constitute a small or isolated community. According to various government and non-government estimates, nearly 30 million people in the country live with one or more forms of disability, representing a significant portion of the population.
Despite this, their access to basic living standards, safety, healthcare, and human dignity has long remained outside the core priorities of the state and society, according to a statement.
Currently, persons with disabilities who are registered under government allowance programs receive only BDT 900 per month. In practical terms, this amount is grossly inadequate to sustain even the most basic needs.
In cities like Dhaka, a single day’s transportation cost and a modest lunch can exhaust the entire allowance. For vulnerable families in rural areas, surviving even a week on this amount is extremely difficult.
An even more distressing reality is that millions of persons with disabilities remain outside any form of government registration or regular support system. Their names do not appear on official lists, their voices go unheard, and their struggles remain invisible to institutional oversight.
Social and familial insecurity further compounds their vulnerability. Across different regions of the country, many women and adolescent girls with disabilities face sexual abuse and violence, often perpetrated by relatives or known individuals.
For persons with speech or intellectual disabilities, reporting abuse or seeking justice becomes nearly impossible. Social silence and stigma continue to shield such crimes from accountability.
At the same time, limited access to healthcare and rehabilitation services has made daily life even more challenging for families with disabilities.
Regular medical treatment, physiotherapy or occupational therapy, specialized wheelchairs, assistive devices, and nutritional support are essential, yet most families lack information, access, or financial capacity to obtain these services.
In response to this reality, Hafezzi Charitable Society of Bangladesh (HCSB) has taken a field-based approach to stand beside families with disabilities. The organization has conducted direct outreach in various marginalized areas, meeting families face to face, listening carefully to their struggles, and initiating interventions aimed at improving their quality of life.
Under the Disability Rehabilitation Project, HCSB is currently implementing:
- Medical support for persons with disabilities
- Distribution of wheelchairs and assistive devices based on individual needs
- Physiotherapy and rehabilitation support
- Awareness-building and training for family members
- Quality-of-life improvement initiatives for children with disabilities
- Discreet protection and support for survivors of abuse
In addition to medical and rehabilitation services, the project also integrates food and social security initiatives. These include Ramadan iftar and month-long food assistance, Eid clothing distribution during Eid-ul-Fitr and Eid-ul-Adha, and Qurbani meat or livestock distribution during the Qurbani season.
The objective is to ensure that religious and social occasions are moments of dignity and inclusion, not deprivation or shame, for families with disabilities.
The organization stated that support for persons with disabilities should not be viewed as an act of charity, but as a moral, social, and humanitarian responsibility.
A society that fails to protect and uplift its most vulnerable members cannot achieve genuine development.
Reaffirming its commitment, Hafezzi Charitable Society of Bangladesh (HCSB) announced that it will continue expanding its reach to support more families with disabilities through sustainable rehabilitation and long-term inclusion efforts—not through words, but through action.
Call for Support
Calling for public support, Muhammad Raj, Director General of Hafezzi Charitable Society of Bangladesh, stated that sustained and expanded assistance is essential to continue this work. He urged capable individuals and institutions to support families with disabilities through Zakat, Fitrah, Sadaqah Jariyah, and general donations.
Those who wish to contribute regularly may do so through auto-pay options, enabling daily or monthly contributions to strengthen the project. A single donation, he noted, can help restore healthcare access, mobility, dignity, and a safer life for a person with disabilities.
