New Asia Impact Report provides greater donor accountability

CARE today launched the Asia Impact Report which provides a review of the impact of CARE’s work in Asia from 2005 to 2010. The report is the first of its kind in Australia and is part of CARE’s commitment to transparency, which is important for the 87 per cent of Australian donors who want to know more about how donations are spent.

Research highlights: A round-up of recent IHRR research findings

Features

• In Search of Tipping Points: Researchers are on the hunt for the elusive ‘tipping point’ in physical and social systems.

• Climate Change and Coffee: How will climate change affect coffee growers in Africa?

• Regenerating Brownfield Land: Methods to transform brownfield land sustainably to improve land quality and community health.

• Surviving the Storm: How communities in Bangladesh are coping with the aftermath of Cyclone Sidr.

Asia-Pacific actions to address climate change will have global impact

Jakarta -- Countries in Asia and the Pacific are at a crossroads and must now strike a balance between rising prosperity and rising emissions. Their success or failure will have repercussions worldwide, predicts a new report released today by the United Nations Development Programme.

Sirajganj, Bangladesh─ When the rain-swollen Jamuna River breached its banks and inundated Sirajganj town 4 years ago, the streets were under knee-deep water, forcing shutdowns of businesses and schools. Even after the rain stopped, the floodwaters took more than 2 months to recede. Roads were ravaged and the town’s poor drainage system ceased to function. Residents returned to homes that were no longer fit to live in.

Fresh water used to be a rare find in the coastal Khulna region of Bangladesh where floods frequently brought salt water inland, killing crops and contaminating wells. Women like Kirtonia had to walk for hours in search of clean drinking water. But thanks to a new embankment, Kirtonia's life has changed.

BOIRAGIKHALI — For many people, accessing fresh water is a matter of opening a faucet. But for 30-year-old Taposhi Kirtonia, it took a four-hour walk from her home in rural southern Bangladesh to the nearest fresh water stream.

By Sarah Oughton

In a recent survey by the British Red Cross, one-third of the UK population said they’d never heard of ‘food insecurity‘. The term, used by aid workers, refers to a complex set of issues behind the fact that 925 million people in the world go hungry every day, despite there being enough food in the world to feed everyone.

Poverty is the major underlying factor for people struggling to get enough food. However, when a disaster strikes it only makes the situation worse for those who are already vulnerable.

July 12, 2011

High Commissioner of India in Dhaka Sh. Rajeet Mitter along with Minister for Food and Disaster Management H.E. Dr. Abdul Razzak, handed over the first batch of Sidr Core Shelters, built in Sharonkhola, Bagerhat on 9 July, 2011 to the affected families, at a public function. The event was witnessed by political leaders, members of the civil society, officials and a large number of local residents.

Cooperative Agreement Number 388-A-00-09-00037-00

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY CRS and Caritas Bangladesh initiated Somriddhi (SIDR-Affected Community-Led Action for Livelihood Restoration and Disaster Risk Reduction Project), Cooperative Agreement No. 388-A-00-09-00037-00 in April 2009. The goal of the project was that SIDR-affected households have sustained livelihoods. Somriddhi had two main objectives:

1.) Targeted SIDR-affected households earn income throughout the year; and

In the next 40 years, agricultural land will be lost to urbanization, desertification, sea level rise and increasingly salty water.

Bangladesh, Kenya eye climate-smart farming practices.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

March 15, 2011 - In November 2007, powerful Cyclone Sidr claimed the lives of thousands of people in Bangladesh and wiped out a lot of the country's rice crop. A year later, Bangladesh became