text: -.Self-help — an example to the rest of the world UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador Audrey Hepburn made a special request in 1989 to be sent to Bangladesh — a country that she felt had been unfairly labelled by many outsiders as a 'basket case'. While recurring disasters had reduced an area once known as 'Golden Bengal' to the second poorest country in the world after Ethiopia, Miss Hepburn believed strongly that there was another side of the story to be told, so she travelled to Asia in late October to see for herself. She spent seven days in Bangladesh visiting schools, self-help organizations, and projects in villages and slum settlements. "No other country in the developing world has ever been written off because of natural disasters or a lack of basic services", she said. "The economy of this young, 18-year-old nation may have been impoverished by war, famine and floods, but it has untold wealth in the resilience and resourcefulness of its people, and its strength lies in their unity. Families and community spirit remain intact, together with the people's willingness to help themselves." Since the birth of the nation in 1971, UNICEF has supported programmes in priority areas of health, education and economic development. It has helped to; » dig 750,000 tube wells which give access to safe drinking water; » provide schools with 45 million textbooks; » implement a vast immunization programme against the five main child killer diseases and polio; » distribute large amounts of vitamin A to combat blindness; » provide iodized salt and oil injections as protection against iodine deficiencies which cause goitre and cretinism. On her return from Bangladesh, Miss Hepburn wrote of the efforts of Bangladeshis at all levels to fight the poverty, diseases and hardship which claim a million young lives every year
analysis: The text primarily focuses on the efforts of UNICEF and Audrey Hepburn to support the development and well-being of the people of Bangladesh, particularly in the areas of health, education, and economic development. It highlights the resilience and resourcefulness of the Bangladeshi people and the organization's work in providing access to safe drinking water, healthcare, and education.