Disaster Management and Resilience

The “Disaster Management and Resilience” sector program aims to enhance the resilience and adaptive capacity of communities against climate-induced threats and non-climatic related natural disasters. With themes encompassing Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR), Emergency Response, Coping Strategy, Preparedness, recovery and rehabilitation, the program focuses on eco-friendly disaster risk reduction, anticipatory actions, community empowerment, the inclusion of Eco-DRR in developmental strategies, and leveraging advanced technologies for risk mitigation. Below are the program’s specific objectives:

1. To enhance community capacity for disaster risk reduction by applying the eco-DRR principles, and climate change adaptation (CCA) through nature-based solutions (NbS).

2. To advocate for localization and strengthen the capacities of targeted communities and local authorities in planning, executing, monitoring, and evaluating interventions for disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation.

3. To advocate for the inclusion of Eco-DRR and EbA in development strategies, plans, programs, and financial allocations at local, regional, and national tiers.

4. To enable vulnerable communities to access and leverage scientific data, early warning mechanisms, risk evaluation tools, and cutting-edge technologies for disaster risk mitigation and climate change adaptation.

5. To accelerate formulation of policy, action plans, and resource allocation strategies that foster humanitarian culture and practices.

Key Highlights of Climate Change, DRR, Disaster Management and Resilience

• 1,715 BHHs and 15 UDMC received orientation on climate resilience and DRR under different projects
• 28,972 BHHs covered under “Awareness building of BHHs on DRR and Climate change issue through distribution of DRR flyer” program
• 3,607 BBHs received Multi-purpose cash grant support under emergency response support for flood and fire incident affected people 
• 3,510 BBHs received Food items under emergency response support for flood and fire incident affected people
• 3,950 BBHs received Non-food items under emergency response support for flood and fire incident affected people
• 2,350 BBHs received hygiene kits (standard hygiene package) under emergency response support for flood affected people 
• 350 life-jackets and 40 life-buoys were distributed for the use of school-going children and UDMC members
• Maintenance of WASH facilities of 35 schools affected by flooding
• A total of 5 cyclone shelters were rehabilitated in the Ukhiya and Teknaf upazilas of the Cox’s Bazar district
• A 2,361-meter pathway was constructed for safer navigability of Rohingya communities living in Camps 17,18, 20 and 20 extension
• To ensure a smooth drainage system, an 875-meter drain was constructed in Camps 17 and 18
• To ensure protection from landslide/erosion, a 318-meter slope protection wall was constructed in Camp 20 and 20 extension  
• 225-meter brick retaining wall had been constructed in Camp-24

Projects that primarily focusing on DRR, CCA and mitigation, viz. G4CR-II, GCA are CCA project. Besides, NRM project like “Improved Natural Environment, Augmented Self-reliance and Peaceful Co-existence for Refugees and Host Communities” project also address EbA. Disaster Risk Reduction through Food Assistance for Assets (DRR-FFA) projects implementing disaster risk reduction related activities.

Climate Change (CC) adaptation and mitigation activities are often not an isolated/new activity, but, are rather embedded in regular development activities with specific actions to address CC issues. In the reporting period, CNRS started the implementation of GCF funded Gender-responsive Costal Adaptation (GCA) in the Koyra and Shamnagr upazilas of the Khulna and Satkhira districts. The key objective of the project is to support the Government of Bangladesh (GoB) in strengthening the adaptive capacities of coastal communities, especially women, to cope with the impact of climate change-induced salinity on their livelihoods and water security. From March 2021, CNRS has started work on Climate Risk Insurance with the support of Oxfam.

In the reporting period, DRR focused activities were implemented under different projects. The CNRS-TROSA project reintroduced an indigenous method for enhancing the communities’ capacities in erosion management that had been widely used by local communities for decades. A total of 44 new Bamboo Bundles were installed at two different places (Teesta river in the Kaunia upazila of the Rangpur district and in Jinjiram river under the Rowmari upazila of the Kurigram district. The installed Bamboo Bundles successfully protected the riverbank from erosion and the respective local administrations and the local government body is helping the communities to replicate it elsewhere and more than 2 kilometers of the area is protected by their support.