Attachments
Foreword
Gwyn Lewis
Resident Coordinator, Bangladesh
Since May this year, a wave of consecutive disasters has placed people and communities across Bangladesh at the epicenter of the global climate crisis.
Since the landfall of Cyclone Remal on 26 May, there have been flash floods in the Haor Region, riverine floods in the Jamuna Basin, and more recently devastating flash floods in Chattogram. An estimated 18 million people have been affected.
With each climate shock, humanitarian needs rise, and the resilience of vulnerable communities is also tested. Behind every number there is a human story of resilience and struggle. A struggle to keep every family member safe and to protect what possessions can be saved. All while every family in Bangladesh dreams for a better future for their families and communities.
The most recent flooding in Chattogram happened at a time when Bangladesh was in the midst of political change following Student lead protests that resulted in the appointment of a new Interim government under the leadership of Chief Advisor Dr. Mohammed Yunus. Despite the many competing priorities, the Ministry of Disaster Management alongside local communities has worked to support the most vulnerable, but international solidarity and support needs to be strengthened and sustained.
The causes of the climate crisis are global, and yet the very real human consequences are local. As a testament to our global solidarity, our collective humanitarian response must adapt to these evolving natural hazards and extreme weather events to save lives and livelihoods wherever they are.
To complement the local, national, and Government response, the Humanitarian Coordination Task Team (HCTT) launched a Humanitarian Appeal to respond to the devastation of Cyclone Remal. This has now been updated to include floods in the North-Eastern, Northern and Eastern regions of the country.
Activities for the cyclone and North-Eastern floods included cash assistance, food, hygiene kits and animal feed to mitigate the worst of the damage. Humanitarian partners reached over 4 million people in risk areas across the country with early warning messages. Approximately, $8.5 million was provided to families, from the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) and UNICEF, FAO and WFP in anticipation of the Jamuna basin flooding, that will assist more than 600,000 people. Besides, the other actors, like BDRCS, and Sufal consortium led by CARE also provided anticipatory action.
This Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP) is the result of a multisectoral consultative process led by the government to respond to the most urgent needs over the course of these climatic disasters from May to September 2024. This latest revision of the Appeal will be launched under the leadership of Bangladesh’s new Interim government and ensures that it remains a document that guides the collective response to meet humanitarian needs in Bangladesh.
The humanitarian community continues to be committed to addressing the protection needs of the most vulnerable, including their exposure to discrimination and sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV).
In an ever-changing world, people need ever-changing support. We stand in solidarity with the people of Bangladesh, whom we will continue to support in any way we can.
I urge the international community to continue to support humanitarian responders to implement the collective efforts set out in this plan, as funding these life-saving programs will show the world that no-one is left behind on the frontline of the global climate crisis.