Home / Impact

Impact · 1996–2026

From people to lasting change

What three decades of DRRA’s work have achieved: for people and families, in communities, and in the public systems that serve them.

See the results Read their stories

A smiling boy in a green shirt looks straight at the camera

Two young men, one with Down syndrome, laugh as they play with red-and-green gamchha scarves

Two schoolgirls smile as they work on their lessons together

DRRA by the numbers

Thirty years in four figures

DRRA’s reach since 1996, directly and through local partner organisations.

Local partner organisations carried DRRA’s low-cost CBR programme to 38 districts

2M+

People reached directly

1.5M

Persons with disabilities reached

Districts

How change happens

People → action → change → impact

The same pathway runs through every DRRA programme: find the person, act close to home, open doors that were closed, and stay until the change lasts.

An older man and his daughter stand together in the wooden doorway of their home

1 People

It begins with a person and a family

Community workers, self-help groups and mobile teams identify children and adults with disabilities. Many have never been assessed before.

A boy wheels himself forward in his wheelchair in the courtyard of his home

2 Action

Support delivered close to home

Therapy, assistive devices such as wheelchairs, and referral into government health services, at or near the person’s home.

A schoolboy looks up attentively from his notebook during a lesson

3 Change

A seat in school, a place in the community

Children move into inclusive classrooms with trained teachers and adapted materials, and families gain time, income and confidence.

A smiling young man with Down syndrome stands among friends at a community gathering

4 Impact

Dignity, inclusion, empowerment

Young people with disabilities train for work, join organisations of persons with disabilities and speak up for their communities.

What we are working toward

“A society where persons with disabilities and destitute people can enjoy dignified lives with equity.”— DRRA’s vision

🤝

Dignity

Consent-based storytelling, safeguarding in every programme, and support that is designed with people, not for them.

🏘️

Inclusion

Mainstream schools, health centres and workplaces made accessible — rather than separate services on the side.

🌱

Empowerment

Skills, income and leadership, so persons with disabilities shape the decisions that affect their lives.

Impact, in the field

What these numbers look like in practice

A young girl in a bright dress walks with a mobility walker — Rehabilitation
Assistive devices and physiotherapy close to home.

Children in a classroom raise their hands and smile during a learning activity — Inclusive education
Children learning together in mainstream classrooms.

A mother holds her daughter outside a community clinic — Health systems
Community clinics and hospitals are where inclusion has to work.

A mother helps her child use a standing support frame at home — Home-based support
Families supported at home with therapy and equipment.

Nine areas of change

A right on paper changes nothing until it reaches a hospital ward, a classroom or a village meeting. Equity is built in layers: policy, then law reform and adaptation, then law in practice, then inclusion in health, education and community life.

Area	What DRRA did	What changed
Policy	Served on national committees; published policy analyses on health, education, livelihoods and the SDGs.	Recommendations of its health study were included in the national action plan for 2018–2022.
Legal frameworks and accountability	Took part in committees reviewing disability law and preparing CRPD reporting; joined Bangladesh’s delegation to the CRPD Committee in 2022.	Bangladesh ratified the CRPD in 2007 and passed the Rights and Protection of Persons with Disabilities Act in 2013. These are government achievements; DRRA was one contributor among many.
Health systems	Set up rehabilitation centres inside government hospitals with Ministry of Health officials; helped write the national guideline on defining disability.	A memorandum on accessibility to all upazila health complexes and a commitment to record disability in national health data.
Education	Supported children from early learning to vocational training; trained teachers; analysed the Non-Formal Education Act.	Learn for Life methods were used in 120 primary and 12 special schools in 19 districts by 2018.
Nationally recognised skills	Became a partner training institute under PKSF’s SEIP programme in 2022; argues for inclusion in the national skills system.	A 5% TVET admission quota (2015) and the National Skills Development Authority Act (2018) are national changes.
Livelihoods and inclusive business	Linked training with loans from local microfinance institutions and government services.	Government service providers began giving technical guidance and training to JIBIKA self-help group members.
Local institutions and localisation	Built self-help groups and organisations of persons with disabilities and linked them with Union Parishads and disaster committees.	Members were invited onto Union Disaster Management Committees, a Union Parishad installed a ramp and cyclone teams used lists of persons with disabilities.
Human rights and international engagement	Contributed to the CRPD review of Bangladesh; accredited to the CRPD Conference of States Parties.	Three DRRA models are documented in the Zero Project’s international database of solutions.
Research and replication	Built a research department and published more than thirty studies with partners.	VARANDA was replicated by 15 local partner organisations and JIBIKA by 13; the hospital approach was piloted elsewhere.

Accountability

Accountable for every taka

DRRA is registered with the Department of Social Services, the NGO Affairs Bureau and the Microcredit Regulatory Authority, Government of Bangladesh, and its accounts are independently audited every year. Audited statements, registration documents and our annual impact report are available on request.

📊Audited financial statements 📄Annual impact report 🏛️NGO Affairs Bureau registration

Where we work

38 districts
54 upazilas

🇧🇩Head office in Dhaka, with community programmes in urban settlements and rural districts across Bangladesh.
🌊Climate and disaster-risk work on the south-west coast.
🤝Direct programmes in Satkhira, Manikganj, Gazipur and Dhaka.
🧭Work in other districts through partner organisations.

Coverage maps

Where DRRA’s work has reached

Districts and upazilas reached directly and through local partner organisations, with DRRA’s training and resource centres and inclusive health rehabilitation centres.

Map of Bangladesh showing the districts and upazilas DRRA has reached, from Nilphamari in the north to Cox’s Bazar in the south-east — Districts and upazilas reached

Map of Bangladesh marking DRRA training and resource centres and inclusive health rehabilitation centres, concentrated in Satkhira, Manikganj, Dhaka and Chattogram — Training, resource and health rehabilitation centres

Map of Bangladesh marking DRRA one-stop rehabilitation centres and special education and rehabilitation centres in Satkhira, Manikganj, Dhaka, Gazipur and Chattogram — One-stop rehabilitation and special education centres

Select a map to open it at full size.

SDG alignment

Every programme maps to a global goal

DRRA’s programmes contribute to Bangladesh’s progress on the Sustainable Development Goals and on the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

SDG 2 — Food & Nutrition

SDG 3 — Inclusive Health & Rehabilitation

SDG 4 — Inclusive Education & Lifelong Learning

SDG 5 — Women Empowerment

SDG 8 — Economic Inclusion, Livelihood & Youth Leadership

SDG 10 — Disability Rights & Policy Advocacy

SDG 13 — Climate Justice & Response

Help write the next chapter.

Your gift reaches a person, then a family, then a community.

Donate now Sponsor a child