Since late June 2020 several districts of Bangaldesh have been affected by floods. According to government sources, till now over 5 million people in 33 districts have been affected by devastating floods. Although the government has responded immediately, the relief efforts have largely missed the multidimensional needs of the flood-affected population. There have been cases of mistargeting of beneficiaries, irregularities and inadequacy in the distribution of relief due to which government asssitance has not reached many flood-affected people. This calls for enhanced transparency and accountability in relief distribution.
These observations emerged from the virtual dialogue on Recent Floods: Damages and Recovery Measures organized by the Cente for Policy Dialogue (CPD). A presentation titled Flood 2020: Current Situation and Required Actions was made at the dialogue which steered the discussion at the event. The study has been prepared as part of CPD’s Independent Review of Bangladesh’s Development (IRBD) programme.
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Discussants at the dialogue also prescribed a set of recommendations to mitigate the adverse socio-economic impact of floods. A number of discussants highlighted the urgent need for following the guidelines recommended in the Delta Plan to enhance the country’s disaster management capacity. Additionally, the importance of effective coordination among government agencies, and the need for utilising crop insurance to protect farmers were also brought up in the discourse.
Professor Rehman Sobhan, Chairman, CPD chaired the session. Dr Md. Enamur Rahman, MP, Honourable State Minister, Ministry of Disaster Management and Relief, Government of Bangladesh was the Chief Guest at the dialogue. Mr Mohammad Abdul Ahad, Deputy Commissioner and District Magistrate, Sunamganj District joined the event as the Guest of Honour.
Special comments were offered by Dr Ainun Nishat, Professor Emeritus, Centre for Climate Change and Environmental Research, BRAC University, Mr Gawher Nayeem Wahra, Founder Member Secretary, Disaster Forum, and Ms Salima Sarwar, Executive Director, Association for Community Development, Rajshahi.
Dr Fahmida Khatun, Executive Director, CPD moderated the dialogue. Mr MD Kamruzzaman, Senior Research Associate presented the findings of the study. Professor Mustafizur Rahman, Distinguished Fellow, Dr Khondaker Golam Moazzem, Research Director, CPD, and Towfiqul Islam Khan, Senior Research Fellow were also present at the dialogue.