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Anticipatory action to mitigate the impacts of monsoon floods in Northern Bangladesh
In July 2024, the World Food Programme (WFP), in collaboration with the Government of Bangladesh, successfully implemented an anticipatory action (AA) activation to mitigate the predicted monsoon flood effects on the lives and livelihoods of highly vulnerable people in five northern districts of the Jamuna Basin: Kurigram, Gaibandha, Jamalpur, Sirajganj and Bogura. This activation represents the largest number of people covered up to date for anticipatory action ahead of a fast-onset hazard.
This AA activation took place four days ahead of the flood and was guided by the United Nations Central Emergency Relief Fund (CERF) framework for Monsoon floods, coordinated by OCHA and funded by CERF upon reaching the pre-agreed triggers crossing the danger level, based on the Global Flood Awareness System (GloFAS) and Flood Forecasting and Warning Center (FFWC). This inter-agency framework brings together UN agencies, including WFP, UNICEF, FAO and the UNFPA, alongside the Bangladesh Red Crescent society and Care International, to collectively deliver timely and accurate anticipatory assistance.
On July 4th, the CERF framework was activated as anticipatory action triggers were reached based on the flood forecasts, which highlighted that, due to the ongoing monsoon rainfall, the water levels would rise along the Jamuna and Brahmaputra rivers. Following this forecast, the Anticipatory Action Technical Working Group (AATWG) complemented the work of the government-led Forecast Based Action Task Force under the Ministry of Disaster Management and Relief, the Bangladesh Meteorological Department, and the Flood Forecasting Warning Center (FFWC) to coordinate the implementation of the anticipatory action activation.
This was the first AA activation linked to one of the government’s Social Protection (SP) programmes. WFP utilized the national social protection system databases to identify and target floodvulnerable households and validated the beneficiaries’ information through a formal WFP validation process. The identified SP beneficiaries received both early warning messages (on the day of the activation, July 4th) and anticipatory cash (12 hours after the activation). Some of the AAs implemented by different organizations to help people prepare for the forecasted floods include livestock feed and grants; maternal and newborn health services; and sanitation and hygiene supplies. As part of this coordinated activation, WFP delivered:
1. Multi-purpose anticipatory cash assistance to 89,560 households (447,800 people). Each household received US$43 (BDT 5,000) through bKash, a Bank-led Mobile Financial Service Provider. This cash allowed families to reinforce their homes, evacuate to safer areas, transport valuable assets, and purchase items to meet their basic needs (including food, medicines, and cattle feed).
2. Early Warning (EW) messages to 2,026,693 people in 200 unions ahead of the cash distribution to inform individuals about the forecasted floods and allow them to make risk-informed decisions (e.g., how to spend the anticipatory cash). The forecast messages were announced by local volunteers, radio and local TV channels and shared through local disaster management committees.
These anticipatory actions were implemented to: 1) allow households to make relevant and timely decisions ahead of the monsoon floods; 2) safeguard their homes, income, valuable assets, the vulnerable members of their family, such as people with disabilities and children; 3) empower communities to meet their food and nutrition needs before and after the crisis.