Stories of Courage and Resilience STORIES of COURAGE and RESILIENCE
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Supported by Stories of Courage and Resilience STORIES OF COURAGE AND RESILIENCE Manusher Jonno Foundation April 2021 Plot : 3 & 4, Hazi Road, Avenue : 3 Rupnagar Housing Estate, Mirpur 2, Dhaka, Bangladesh Phone : 880-2-58053191 – 99. 880-2-58053190. Email: info@manusher. org. Supported by Stories of Courage and Resilience 1 Publisher & Copyright Manusher Jonno Foundation Coordination and Edit: Md. Ahsanul Wahed, Deputy Program Manager, MJF Review: MJF Team Banasree Mitra Neogi, Gender Advisor Shahana Huda, Senior Coordinator Wasiur Rahman Tonmoy, Coordinator PREFACE Md. Ahsanul Wahed, Deputy Program Manager Afrina Binth-A Ashraf, Deputy Program Manager The economic growth of Bangladesh largely depends on agricultural production, including crops, fisheries, and livestock. Climate change is becoming a threat for agrarian countries like Bangladesh And as agricultural growth is ultimately affected by climatic variation. Despite not contributing to climate Project Coordinators of: degradation, Bangladesh is paying a huge price due to its geographical location. Frequent flooding, Ashika Development Associates, Chandradip Development Society, increased salinity, and rise in sea level is posing a massive threat to the lives and livelihoods of people. Sufferings of people are most intense in coastal areas as they are experiencing frequent depression Gana Unnayan Kendra, Hill Flower, Jagrata Juba Shangha, and cyclones, soil and water salinity, coastal erosion, thunderstorm, tidal surge, and hailstorm. People Nabolok, Nazrul Smriti Sangsad, TAHZINGDONG of floodplain areas experience regular and extreme floods and river erosion at the same time drought, Village Education Resource Center tornado, thunderstorm, hailstorm, and dense fog. Moreover, hill ecosystems face flash floods, drought, and landslides due to anthropogenic intervention and climate variability. Recently COVId-19 has posed Date of Publication Research & Story additional challenges such as loss of lives and income. April 2021 Mahbubur Rahman Goonjohn Manusher Jonno Foundation is implementing a project titled “Strengthen civil society & public institutions to address gender-based violence & build community resilience to adapt climate change” funded by the Photography Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA), to address people’s sufferings of the Din Muhammad Shibly above-mentioned geographical locations. The project aims to change the lives of vulnerable people Design through promoting climate-smart adaptive interventions. Interventions such as an increase in people’s Md Athir Rahman capacity on adaptive practices, linking up people with both government and non-government service providers to get support through accessing different services are initiated. Besides, ease access to Project Publication Coordination financial tools by creating IGA funds at the community level and building the community’s capacity to Strengthen Civil Society and Public Institutions to Address Gender-Based Partha Prathim Sadhu run the fund solely themselves so people can translate their knowledge into practice by taking interest- Violence and Build Community Resilience to Adapt Climate Change Xfactor Production House free loan support. Manusher Jonno Foundation (MJF) has taken the initiative to document the changes in people’s lives Disclaimer by using different means. The photo storybook is one of such initiatives. Manusher Jonno Foundation is The publisher reserves all rights. No part of this publication may be All the photographs used in this book are taken grateful for the support from SIDA for the publication of this storybook. reprinted, reproduced, or transmitted in any form or by any means (electronic, with the direct consent from the beneficiaries participated in photo shoot and the related mechanical, recording, or otherwise) without prior permission in writing from Shaheen Anam the publisher. Any person who does any unauthorized act concerning this information is also collected directly from them Executive Director publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claim for damages. with consent to further use. Manusher Jonno Foundation 2 3 Courage and resilience Climate change is an evil of the 20th century making socio-economic responsibilities. lives and livelihoods uncertain for the countries like The three most vulnerable areas to climate change in Bangladesh. The geography, agricultural economy, Bangladesh are a) coastal areas, b) flat erosion-prone poverty, and dense population are the critical factors riverine pastures, and c) the hill tracts. The types of for making life miserable for people living in the damage caused by climate change are different in greatest delta. The journey of struggle is a great these three regions. Therefore, the struggle for living challenge, with almost 17 crores of people having half and livelihood of the people of these three regions of the female population who are more vulnerable to is varied. Inhabitants of coastal people face severe climate change due to traditional and social norms of salinity, frequent and intense depression, cyclone, the country. tidal surge, river erosion while prolonged flood, river In our society, women are more likely than men to be erosion, and drought enhancing misery of life and affected by climate change. Generally, marginalized livelihood of the people living in a riverine flood plain. women living below the poverty line have to take Moreover, drought, landslide, and flash flood have on two roles at the same time: a) they are engaged become common phenomena for the people living in in income-generating activities for the family as hill tracts. Besides, erratic rainfall all over the country producers, b) they are engaged in household chores is risking livelihood. However, women are most to take care of the whole family, including children vulnerable and face multidimensional challenges, and the elderly. Women have to struggle inside and deprived of their rights due to structural inequality in outside with the impact of climate change due to their all three regions. Manusher Jonno Foundation works 4 5 with climate-vulnerable communities, resilience towards climate change towards partners and beneficiaries in The partner organizations are also them to overcome the situation and get particularly women, to build livelihood impacts and engaged 13136 HHs from almost all the scope they could cope up. involved in strengthening public fight back. Women and the community opportunities and awareness regarding three climate-vulnerable areas. Providing livelihood support by promoting institutions to ensure responsiveness and collectively began their hard work with their rights, build capacity on IGA, facilitating access of beneficiaries to accountability to prompt services towards courage and confidence to recover better The project mainly promotes context- alternative agricultural technologies, other GO and NGO resources, providing gender concerns, including Violence and stronger. The project supported most specific, ecosystem-friendly, and disaster preparedness, and response. training and guidance, and resources Against Women and Girls (VAWG) and where women started farming, fishing, climate-adaptive agricultural and The five-year project funded by the to adapt climate-resilient interventions, Climate Change Adaptation (CCA). agriculture, and small enterprises that are livelihood practices in Coastal, Char, Swedish International Development motivating and inspiring beneficiaries especially vulnerable to climate change. and Hilly regions; So, building capacity Cooperation Agency (SIDA) intends to to adopt alternative ways of cultivation, The project has been running successfully So, it started moving forward despite the and knowledge management by enhance the capacity of civil society farming, and other income-generating for more than three years. It then falls slowdown in its process and progress. utilizing best practices for community- and public institutions to address activities, etc. are the most effective under the unavoidable threat of the based climate change adaptation is an gender-based violence in the public supports provided to the beneficiaries pandemic COVID-19 and experienced This initiative is taken to capture changes integral part of the project. Therefore, and private domain and build greater and survivors of the project. As a result, devastation of cyclones like Amphan, in the lives of people living in three reducing the vulnerability of climate resilience of vulnerable communities to changes are reflected in their lives Fani, and prolonged flood. This climate-vulnerable regions due to the change impacts is one of the major deal with climate change impacts and and livelihood. Beneficiaries are more pandemic, cyclone, and flood directly project’s intervention. result areas of the project. natural disasters. Under this project, confident than the others of the same hit people living in coastal, char, and hill areas. But they have been able Let’s start a journey towards the changes the MJF has already established a To address the sufferings of distressed areas and, therefore, become an example to turn around. The project has given of courageous climate-vulnerable people Photo : Sony Ramany (Top) partnership with 9 organizations to people, MJF widened their cooperation to the community to follow to be resilient. and communities’ resilience. Partha Prathim Sadhu work directly for building community tremendous efforts and stands with 6 7 Living with salinity The southernmost Districts