By Umme Salma Anee, CHORUS Research Assistant, ARK Foundation
To implement a CHORUS Innovation Fund project in Bangladesh, the team at ARK Foundation has been working with a diverse range of stakeholders, including policy makers, community leaders, teachers, Imams, youth groups, adolescents, guardians, pregnant women, elderly women, and people with physical challenges, to address barriers faced by urban residents in Dhaka when undertaking physical activity. The project is co-designing a ‘Citizen Score Card’ which will capture the overall condition of the existing physical activity facilities in the urban areas and propose policy suggestions to city governments improve access and conditions of these spaces, particularly for women and girls.
Limited participation in physical activity, along with poor diet and tobacco use, is a significant risk factor driving the pandemic of NCDs such as diabetes and hypertension. Although physical activity is imperative for maintaining a healthy lifestyle, many urban residents in Dhaka struggle to incorporate it into their daily lives, due to a number of challenges, from urban planning to gender issues. These challenges, along with recommendations to address these and promote increased physical activity are detailed in this blog. The insights shared are based on qualitative findings of the CHORUS Innovation Fund Project on ‘Co-designing and evaluating a citizen scorecard to promote physical activity for adolescent girls and women in Bangladesh’.
Read the full blog here: PDF Version or visit this link
(This blog was originally published on the CHORUS website on June 3, 2025)
