Bangladesh role model for disaster management

Over the decade, Bangladesh has earned a name as a role model for disaster management despite being one of the most disaster-prone and climate-vulnerable countries.

Bangladesh has achieved remarkable success in cyclone related disaster mortality, which has fallen from 7 digits to a single digit in the last 50 years, said Enamur Rahman, state minister for Disaster Management and Relief.

He said this in his speech on the preparatory day of the Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction (GPDRR) 2022, jointly organised by United Nation Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR) and the Indonesian government, at Bali International Conference Centre (BICC).

Indonesian Coordinating Minister for Human Development and Culture Muhadjir Effendy inaugurated the meeting yesterday morning.

Bangladeshi state minister delivered his speech in the afternoon on "Addressing the recovery needs of women and girls, people with disabilities and other vulnerable groups".

In the 1970 cyclone, 90 percent of the deceased were women and children. The ratio between women-children and men was 14:1, which has now been reduced to 1:1.

"This is a milestone achievement in terms of minimising the gender gap in disaster management," said Enamur.

Citing a recent study report by Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies (BIDS), the minister said 75 percent of risks can be reduced through better preparedness.

Regarding Bangladesh's Covid-19 preparedness, the state minister said the humanitarian response was made with the principle of "no one will be left behind", as per Bangladesh's National Preparedness and Response Plan for Covid-19.

Bangladesh is also updating its disaster preparedness with a National Strategy on Internal Displacement Management 2021.

Bangladesh has emphasised risk-informed and gender-inclusive development in its LDC graduation process, the minister added.

Sharon Bhagwan Rolls, regional manager from Shifting the Power Coalition, and Nina Birkeland from Norwegian Refugee Council also spoke in the session, while Dr Rahel Steinbach, Disaster Risk Reduction, UN Women moderated the session.

Nearly a 100-member delegation, including government officials from relevant ministries, local government representatives, development partners, officials from non-government organisations and volunteers have participated in the conference from Bangladesh.