Bangladesh
2023-06 Factsheet - Bangladesh
Highlights
The goal of the Shelter Cluster (SC) Bangladesh is to provide people affected by disasters with the means to live in a safe, dignified, and appropriate shelter. SC Bangladesh is active throughout the year and works on preparedness for the betterment of disaster responses. Currently, SC Bangladesh is coordinating the Cyclone Mocha response and workings on preparedness with many activities by engaging its member organizations.
Cyclone Mocha made landfall on the Bangladesh coastal districts on 14 May 2023 with a wind speed of 190-210 km/ph and caused damage to houses, water points, tube wells, sanitation, agriculture, and fish enclosures, which made a humanitarian crisis in affected areas. A total of 10,692 houses were damaged partially, and 2052 houses were damaged fully by cyclone mocha. A joint flash appeal was prepared by the Rohingya Refugee Response in Cox’s Bazar and the Country Level Humanitarian Coordination Task Team (HCTT). For the host community, 50,521 people are targeted and the total fund requirement is USD$ 5.6 million. The SC Bangladesh targeted 50,521 people and the fund requirement is USD$ 2.1 million for the response.
The SC Bangladesh has revised the ‘Environmental Country Profile for Shelter Response’ that informs environmentally sustainable shelter programming by making key information about environmental considerations, impacts, concerns, and opportunities relevant to shelter and settlements programming available and accessible to SC partners. SC Bangladesh organized ‘Best Practices and Lessons Learned Workshop on Shelter Responses in Flash Flood 2022 and Shelter Activities and Materials Exhibition. The Information Education and Communication (IEC) materials have been prepared jointly with Housing and Building Research Institute (HBRI). The pre-crisis survey on monsoon floods by the Inter-Cluster Coordination Group (ICCG) has been completed to get the people’s perceptions and risks. SC Bangladesh has formed a Technical Working Group (TWG) to conduct the pre-crisis survey and assessment. The SPHERE Standards 2018 (What is SPHERE and Shelter and Settlement) is being translated into Bengali by Shelter Cluster by forming the TWG. SC Bangladesh has been activated and organizing meetings to share the shelter activities of partners and update the ongoing cluster’s activities.
On July 2023, the coordination architecture of the cluster system under the Humanitarian Coordination Task Team (HCTT) in Bangladesh has revised. In the newly approved organizational structure, four levels of coordination, preparedness, and response are established, including disaster risk reduction.
- HCTT functions as the primary forum for joint decision-making. Its main objective is to strengthen national disaster risk management through the national cluster system.
- Humanitarian Advisory Group (HAG) to assist the Resident Coordinator in Bangladesh to reflect the views of the humanitarian community in the role of co-chair of the HCTT.
- Inter-Cluster Coordination Group (ICCG) to supports and coordinates the clusters and technical working group
In the new structure, a total of 10 Clusters and 6 Working groups will be coordinating their respective areas. Cluster activation is required and focuses on preparedness.
Need analysis
Bangladesh is highly disaster-prone, ranking in the top ten most at-risk countries globally in 2022. Bangladesh has a subtropical monsoon climate characterized by wide seasonal variations in rainfall, temperatures, and humidity. Analysis of past disaster events between 2014 to 2020 shows that the significant climate-related hazards are floods, cyclones, landslides, and riverbank erosion. Moreover, other climate-related hazards include cold waves, heat waves, hailstorms, heavy rainfall, nor ’wasters, storm, and tornados. From 2014 – 2020 the major climate-related disasters resulted in 1,053 deaths, 4.6 million houses damaged, 9.4 million people internally displaced, and US$ 4.1 billion in economic loss. The continued of raising climate-related disasters and their consequences is increasing the risk of exposed populations. In the future, focus should be given to risk mitigation and preparedness to minimize the extent of damage.
Response
Environmental Country Profile: The SC Bangladesh has revised the ‘Environmental Country Profile for Shelter Response’ that informs environmentally sustainable shelter programming by making key information about environmental considerations, impacts, concerns, and opportunities relevant to shelter and settlements programming available and accessible to SC partners. This profile covers the country-wide context and the most crucial to provide a quick basic understanding of the country-wide context and the most crucial factors that are relevant for environmentally sustainable shelter-related operations. The information in this document can serve as a baseline of environmental issues facing the country of relevance to humanitarian shelter and settlement interventions. The profile was developed with financial support from DG ECHO and USAID’s Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance.
Best Practices and Lessons Learned Workshop: Bangladesh faced a severe flash flood in 2022 and a wide range of responses was coordinated by clusters in Bangladesh. To get the best practices and lessons from the stakeholders on shelter responses, SC Bangladesh organized a workshop. A total of 79 participants from international humanitarian agencies, national and local NGOs, and different Government ministries participated in the workshop and shared their opinions and recommendations for the betterment of future responses. The honorable Secretary, of the Ministry of Disaster Management and Relief (MoDMR) of the Government of Bangladesh was the chief guest of the workshop and shared the Government’s initiatives on shelter programming.
Shelter Activities and Building Materials Exhibition: Housing and Building Research Institute (HBRI) under the Ministry of Housing and Public Works (MoHPW) and SC Bangladesh jointly organized the ‘Shelter Activities and Building Materials Exhibition’. HBRI, Habitat for Humanity, Caritas Bangladesh & CRS, Friendship, BDRCS & IFRC, Islamic Relief Bangladesh, Center for Natural Resource Studies, and Start Fund Bangladesh participated in the exhibition and displayed their shelter center models, house models, shelter materials, Guidelines, Modules, IEC materials, etc.
Information Education and Communication (IEC) Materials: HBRI and Shelter Cluster Bangladesh jointly developed two housing models in the geographical context of the northeastern part of Bangladesh (Flash Flood 2022 region). These environmentally friendly flood-resilient housing designs are low-cost and developed for marginalized populations. Currently, 166 housing are implemented by cluster members in Flash Flood 2022 regions.
Pre-Crisis Survey on Monsoon Flood: The Inter-Cluster Coordination Group (ICCG) conducted the Pre-crisis Survey on Monsoon Floods in Bangladesh. It is an effort to understand the perception and risk of vulnerable people. it revealed the priority needs of the community and guides how the humanitarian community should relate them in their responses.
Pre-Crisis Data Collection and Assessment: SC Bangladesh is going to conduct a Pre-crisis data collection and assessment. The assessment will reveal the hazard and diversified group-specific shelter needs of people in emergencies and recovery periods. SC Bangladesh forms a Technical Working Group (TWG) on this assessment and the questionnaire being developed.
Translating the SPHERE Standards: Shelter Cluster Bangladesh has been translating the SPHERE Standards (What is SPHERE and Shelter and Settlement) into Bengali by forming a Technical Working Group. The working group members are the shelter experts of the Bangladesh and working since long time. The translation work has done and after doing the field test it will be published for all stakeholders.
Global Shelter Week 2023: 19 – 23 June 2023 Global Shelter Week takes place in Geneva Switzerland. Shelter Cluster Bangladesh facilitates round table discussions on preparedness.
Other Works: SC Bangladesh organized three monthly meetings and one Technical Working Group (TWG) meeting as well participated in HCTT meetings, ICCG meetings, and cross-cluster meetings. SC Bangladesh continued to share the information with its partners which was received from different sources related to shelter. In the same way to the betterment of the coordination SC Bangladesh has been maintaining the close coordination with Government ministries and its partners. SC is updating the Terms of References (ToR) based on HCTT’s revised coordination structure and Nexus Strategy 2021-2025.
Gaps / challenges
SC Bangladesh has a wide range of plans for the betterment of coordination among all stakeholders including updating the shelter standards and guidelines, contextualizing shelter coordination training, and updating the Housing, Land and Property (HLP) profile of Bangladesh. However, the budget is constrained and facing challenges to accomplish those initiatives.
