BDPC along with NC4 (NGO Coordination Council for Climate Change) are organising a very important, unique and interesting event scheduled in Dhaka on 10 September 2009. It is the National Workshop on “Community Voice for Climate Change Adaptation and Disaster Risk Reduction”, supported by Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC).

As the title indicates, the main objective of the Workshop is to bring the voice from the people, 'who know where the shoe pinches', to the national level. Carefully selected senior level participants from the government, development partners and the media will get the stories from the ‘horse’s mouth’. BDPC believe in community empowerment for appropriate and sustainable risk reduction because the poor vulnerable communities have been living with disasters for ages, and any durable solution has to come from within. No amount of external help or top down assistance would be able to pull these vulnerable communities out of their risks. Hence the formation of NC4, that BDPC is nurturing: a group of almost 200 NGOs working in the vulnerable areas of the country to consolidate and bring forth the voices from the field.

The national workshop is an attempt to bring the voices of the vulnerable communities living in the remote corners of the country where they are fighting with the adversaries of the changing climate on day to day basis, to the national level. It will become evident that the impact of climate change at the community level is not a matter of tomorrow, but a present day crisis.

The approach of the workshop would be non-traditional and unique in the sense that it will start with a ‘climate change café’ of farmers, fishermen and women from cyclone and flood prone areas of Bangladesh . The café would allow the participants, along with the chief guest and the special guests, to directly chat with the vulnerable communities and get the stories of their plight, resilience, and innovation. The café will have interpreters to facilitate the discussions and rapporteurs to report on the highlights of the discussions to the formal plenary session to follow.

Dr. Md. Abdur Razzaque, the honorable Minister for the Ministry of Food and Disaster Management, will be present as the Chief Guest, while the Secretary of the Ministry and the Ambassador of Switzerland will be the Special Guests. Director Generals of Department of Environment, and Disaster Management Bureau along with a senior community representative from Sidr and Aila affected areas will be present as special invitees.

This will provide an unique opportunity to the policy makers to get the first hand story of climate change impact and adaptation without having to travel all the way to the vulnerable areas, and get the ‘real’ issues from the ‘real’ people.

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The Second Session of the Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction (GPDRR) was held from 16-19 June 2009 at the Centre International de Conférences de Genève in Geneva, Switzerland. Approximately 1,785 participants attended the session, including representatives from over 140 governments, 54 intergovernmental organizations, including UN specialized agencies, and 43 non-governmental organizations (NGOs). The meeting represented the primary multi-stakeholder forum for all parties involved in DRR and aimed to raise awareness on reducing disaster risk, share experiences and guide the United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UNISDR) system.

BDPC Soaring High in GPDRR Flagging the Need for Community Empowerment for Disaster Risk Reduction

Five member Bangladesh Disaster Preparedness Centre (BDPC) delegation made substantial contribution in Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction (GPDRR), for upholding the cause of Community Empowerment for community-led Disaster Risk Reduction.

BDPC Delegation

Prof. Ian Davis
Muhammad Saidur Rahman
Md Tarikul Islam
Dilruba Haider
Moloy Chaki

Demonstration at Global Platform

Moderation of High Level Panel

Mr Muhammad Saidur Rahman, Director of BDPC, moderated the discussion of the High Level Panel 3: ‘Enabling Community-led Resilience Through Preventive Action’. It was a rare privilege for BDPC to have been selected to moderate one of the five High Level Plenary sessions, which only indicated the level of trust and confidence that ISDR reposes on BDPC. It also was a recognition for BDPC’s long experience of working for Community Empowerment and CBDRM. Ms. Ana Lucy Bengochea, Garifuna Community Leader, from Honduras, presented the key-note speech. Among the distinguished panelists there were Mr. Naoto Tajiri, Director, International Office for Disaster Management, Cabinet Office, Japan, Mr. Ali Wario, Chair of the African Union Specialist Task Force on a Pastoral Framework for Africa, Kenya. Ms. Bangochea spoke very emotionally about the strengths of the community especially of the women. All the panelists voiced the need for focus on CBDRM. The well moderated plenary session ended up emphasising the issues among others, of respecting community resilience, CCA, and role of Change Agents in CBDRR. It also focussed on the linkage between poverty and disaster, increased investment for community empowerment and finally on the change of attitude of individuals responsible for disaster risk management at different levels. For details of the HLP3 please visit: [www.isdr.org]

Media Event: BBC World Debate ‘Prevent or React’

‘Prevent or React’, a special media event at the GPDRR, was the recorded one-hour World Debate, a special programme of BBC . Nick Gowing, a senior BBC World presenter, anchored the event, sparking a lively dialogue between the panellists and the audience. Only four from the distinguished audience were asked to comment like the UN Under Secretary General and the Prime Minister of Kenya. Mr Muhammad Saidur Rahman, Director of BDPC, was asked to comment on the success story from Bangladesh on CBDRR, where he emphasised the importance of empowering the poor and vulnerable communities to take charge of their own risk reduction for making all our efforts for CBDRR more effective and sustainable.

Special Event: ‘Incorporation of CBDRR Practices into Climate Change Adaptation Strategies: Bangladesh Story’.

BDPC, along with the Disaster Management Bureau (DMB) of Bangladesh Government organised a special event on ‘Incorporation of CBDRR Practices into Climate Change Adaptation Strategies: Bangladesh Story’. A very well attended event, it was chaired by world famous disaster management expert Prof. Ian Davis. Inaugural remarks were given by the Minister of Ministry of Food and Disaster Management (MoFDM) of the Government of Bangladesh, Dr Abdur Razzak reiterating the government’s commitment towards DRR in the backdrop of increasing disasters in the changed climate. The key note presenter Md Tarikul Islam presented the growing vulnerabilities of Bangladesh to climatic extremes, as well as the existing institutional capacities, and the graduation of Bangladesh as a leader in DRR. Climate change impacts in Bangladesh will be largely in the form of increased disasters. Therefore, the suggested adaptation measures are largely DRR++ interventions. Resource could for Climate Change Adaptation be a major challenge for DRR since focus are now being shifted to CCA. There were three discussants: Dilruba Haider, from BDPC described some of the DRR practices in Bangladesh and pointed out that the investments in DRR and CCA has to be community focused and community-led to optimise the investment. Mr Koji Suzuki, the Director of ADRC in Japan, spoke about 1995 Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake experiences from Japan. Mr Gilberto Romero, from PREDES of Peru, mentioned about the study that was being done in Peru on CC impact on livelihoods of the Andean population. Prof. Davis said that Bangladesh has, over the years, developed many good practices in DRR which needs to be shared with the world community, especially in the areas of early warning, community mobilisation, and CBDRR. State Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Government of Bangladesh, Dr. Hasan Mahmud also spoke on the occasion emphasising the need for CCA. The Director General of Disaster Management Bureau, Mr. Md. Farhad Uddin gave the vote of thanks.

Informal meeting with DRR Leaders

Some of the world leaders in DRR were invited by Prof. Ian Davis on 17 June evening at the office of the Director of ISDR, Mr Salvano Briceno, to present BDPC’s experience in community empowerment and Bangladesh’s possible strategies to get a stake at CCA for the community, and integration of DRR into it, keeping Copenhagen Conference of December in mind. Margaret Arnold, Ben Wisner, John Norton, Salvano Briceno, and Philip Buckle were there along with BDPC delegation.

Organisation’s Official Statement

BDPC presented an official statement in the plenary Session of GPDRR on 18 June, where BDPC highlighted the organisational priorities and urged the world community to let community lead the DRR and CCA efforts by empowering them.

Bilateral Meetings

There were numbers of bilateral meetings between BDPC and Heads of organisations and delegations at GPDRR to discuss bilateral interests: They included Mr. Saroj Jha, GFDRR; Mr. Naoto Tajiri, Director for Disaster Preparedness, Cabinet Office, the Govt. Of Japan; Mr. Karl Otto, CEO, German Committee for Disaster Reduction; Mr. Johan Schaar, Director, Ministry for Foreign Affairs, Sweden. All the agencies appreciated very much BDPC’s experience and expertise in the approach of community empowerment and social mobilisation for CBDRR.

Bangladesh Booth at the Market Place

BDPC supported the Disaster Management Bureau (DMB) of the Government of Bangladesh in producing materials: e.g. booklet, 4 leaflets, and a video documentary to be displayed at the marketplace and also assisted in designing and setting up the Bangladesh Booth. The booth was visited by many dignitaries like UN Under Secretary General Mr John Holmes, Prime Minister of Kenya, and many other key figures in DRR like Mr. Salvano Briceno, the Director of ISDR Margaret Arnold, Director of Provention Consortium, who praised the materials in display, and took copies to use for their programmes.

Opportunities for BDPC

There were couple of meetings with some organisations where they expressed deep interest and willingness to procure BDPC’s expertise for their own programmes. Mr. Julius N Kaberere, Adviser, Commonwealth Secretariat; Ms. Luna Abu-Swaireh, Regional Programme Officer for West Asia and North Africa, ISDR, were among those.

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