DISASTER RISK REDUCTION PROGRAMME F0R BANGLADESH 2010–2012 Published by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) Directorate of Humanitarian Aid and SHA, CH-3003 Bern Authors: Markus Zimmermann, Karl-Friedrich Glombitza and Barbara Rothenberger Contributors: Joseph Guntern and Farid Ahmed Production: Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) Cover photo: Children on the eroding bank of Meghna River, © Barbara Rothenberger © SDC 2010 This document has been approved by the Operation Committee of SDC Directorate of Humanitarian Aid and SHA on 20 October, 2009 Responsible Unit: Division Asia and America (AA) Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation SDC Disaster Risk Reduction Programme for Bangladesh 2010-2012 Directorate of Humanitarian Aid and SHA Executive Summary 2 1 Introduction and Purpose 3 2 Risk Profile 3 2.1 Natural Hazards 3 2.1.1 Floods 3 2.1.2 Cyclones and Storm Surges 4 2.1.3 River Bank Erosion 4 2.1.4 Earthquakes 5 2.1.5 Droughts 5 2.1.6 Tornados 5 2.1.7 Arsenic Contamination 5 2.1.8 Salinity Intrusion 5 2.1.9 Risk from Effects of Climate Change 5 2.2 Vulnerability 6 2.3 Coping Mechanisms and Coping Capacity 6 2.3.1 Legal and institutional frameworks 6 2.3.2 Risk assessment and risk awareness 7 2.3.3 Preparedness and hazard monitoring 7 2.3.4 Local risk management 7 2.4 Risk Analysis 8 3 Stakeholder Analysis 8 3.1 National and International Stakeholders 8 3.1.1 National level 8 3.1.2 United Nations and International Donors 9 3.1.3 International and National NGOs, Private Sector 10 3.1.4 Academia 10 3.2 SDC Activities in Bangladesh 11 4 Disaster Risk Reduction Programme 2010-2012 in Bangladesh 11 4.1 Overall Goal 12 4.2 Guiding Principles 12 4.3 Action Lines 14 4.4 Geographic Priorities 15 4.5 Financial Resources 16 4.6 Human Resources 16 4.7 Implementation modalities/ Quality management 16 4.8 Programme Steering and Monitoring 16 Annex 1: SDC's concept for Disaster Risk Reduction 17 Annex 2: Major natural disasters in Bangladesh 1955-2009 18 Annex 3: Natural hazards Bangladesh 19 Annex 4: Risk Scenarios 21 Annex 5: Disaster Management System in Bangladesh 22 Annex 6: Log Frames 24 Annex 7: Terminology on Disaster Risk Reduction 27 Annex 8: Abbreviations 30 Disaster Risk Reduction Programme for Bangladesh 2010-2012 1 Executive Summary This programme aims at defining the scope of activities of the Swiss Agency for Develop- ment and Cooperation (SDC) in the field of Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) in Bangladesh for the period 2010-2012. Bangladesh is one of the world’s most vulnerable countries to natural hazards and dis- asters. Its geographical location makes it subject to annual monsoon floods and cyclones, but there are also a number of other risks the country has to cope with. As it is considered to be the country most affected by climate change, the risk is increasing for major hydro- meteorological disasters to occur. Widespread poverty and an extremely high population density add to the country’s vulnerability to disasters. The stakeholder analysis shows that there are still many gaps and weaknesses in Disaster Risk Reduction in Bangladesh. Although the Government has made considerable progress in establishing a legal and institutional framework for DRR, many of the plans and policies are still in a draft stage or lack sufficient funding for their implementation. Also the paradigm shift from post disaster response to preparedness and prevention is not yet complete and networking among donors and regional coordination still needs to be developed. While many of the national and international NGO’s dispose of very good disaster reduction ap- proaches and action plans, a common national approach is still lacking. It can also be ob- served that there is a gap in the transfer of knowledge about DRR from science/universities to the project implementation at community level. In general coordination among actors has to be improved at all levels. DRR has been endorsed as special theme in SDC’s Cooperation Strategy Bangladesh 2008-2012. Given that Bangladesh is one of the eight pilot countries, where SDC aims at in- tegrating Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) measures in its development activities, mainstream- ing of Disaster Risk Reduction is an important issue in the country programme. The overall goal of the DRR programmes of SDC is to protect lives and livelihoods and reduce economic losses resulting from the exposure to natural disasters (including the challenges of climate variability and climate change), thus contributing to less human suffer- ing, poverty reduction and a more sustainable and equitable development in the country and the region. The Disaster Risk Reduction Programme for Bangladesh 2010-2012 aims at creating a value-added by filling some of the identified gaps and responding to needs in the field of awareness building on the local level, capacity development as well as mainstreaming DRR into development projects and programmes. The programme is focused on three action lines: · A: Mainstreaming DRR within SDC and its partners’ development projects / pro- grammes · B: Public awareness and preparedness to improve response capacity at community and at individual level · C: Empowerment through capacity development of responsible agencies at national and local levels Following the programme of Regional Cooperation of SDC the geographic focus of the DRR Programme is in Rajshahi and Sunamganj; in addition it also includes Khulna division, an area affected by the two last cyclones Sidr (2007) and Aila (2009). All of the three areas are exposed to recurrent natural hazards and mainly consist of rural communities facing ex- treme poverty. With the aim to strengthen local capacities the responsibility for the execution of the projects will generally remain with national partners who meet the criteria set by SDC, but there will be also direct implementation and secondments. Regular monitoring based on log-frames, base-lines, progress reports and technical assis- tance committees will be performed by the SDC Dhaka office and will be complemented by internal and external reviews. Disaster Risk Reduction Programme for Bangladesh 2010-2012 2 1 Introduction and Purpose Bangladesh’s geo-physical location makes it prone to various hazards, e.g. floods, cy- clones, earthquakes, etc. which cause immense losses of lives and damage to properties, livelihoods and economic infrastructure. The country faces at least one major disaster a year; it has lost on average 3.02 % of its GDP every year during the last 10 years and holds the highest disaster mortality rate in the world (UNDP 2004). On the other hand, Bangladesh as one of the most densely populated countries of the world (1,100/qkm) with a very significant part of the population (34%, representing 50-55 Mio. people) living in extreme poverty with less than 1 US$ per person per day experiences a very high physical and social vulnerability.. The districts with the highest density of pov- erty coincide with the most disaster prone areas within Bangladesh. Climate change adds a new dimension to community risks and vulnerabilities and according to Germanwatch (2009), Bangladesh is at the top of a global climate risk index. The climate change threat for Bangladesh is related to development as its national economy strongly de- pends on agriculture and natural resources; both are sensitive to changing climatic condi- tions, such as changes in rain pattern, flooding and heat waves, as well as rising sea-level. Due to its location in the delta of major river systems, Bangladesh is very much depend- ent on good coordination mechanisms with its neighbouring countries, especially India. The three main rivers, Ganges, Brahmaputra and Meghna, have a catchments area of about 1.7 million sqkm, of which 92.5% is located outside the country. Besides the need of establishing regional Early Warning Systems, it also includes international conventions on the use of wa- ter for irrigation and power production. The Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) has been active in Bangla- desh for almost 40 years. In the aftermath of the 2007 floods and cyclone Sidr and in view of the high incidence of natural disasters, SDC has decided to build up a Disaster Risk Reduc- tion Programme with a medium-term time horizon. The present paper outlines the general disaster risk context for Bangladesh and the strategic orientations of DRR 2010-2012. It serves as an internal thematic steering instrument and will guide project implementation. The “Operations-Komitee” of the Humanitarian Aid Domain endorsed the DRR Programme for Bangladesh 2010-12 on 20 October 2009; it was also approved by SCO-B at the end of February 2010. 2 Risk Profile 2.1 Natural Hazards Bangladesh is exposed to a multitude of natural hazards with highly varying occurrence, season and extent of effect (see also annex 3). 2.1.1 Floods Floods are annual phenomena in Bangladesh with the most severe occurring during the months of July and August. Regular riverine flooding (mainly monsoon floods) affect 20% of the country increasing up to 67% in extreme years (1998). The floods of 1988, 1998 and 2004 were particularly disastrous. Four types of flooding occur in Bangladesh: · Monsoon floods along major rivers during the monsoon rains (June-September) · Flash floods caused by overflowing of hilly rivers of eastern and northern Bangladesh (in April-May and September-November) · Pluvial floods caused by drainage congestion during heavy rains · Coastal floods caused by storm surges (see also 2.1.2) Disaster Risk Reduction Programme for Bangladesh 2010-2012 3 Natural hazards of Bangladesh (Source CEGIS) 2.1.2 Cyclones and Storm Surges Tropical cyclones from the Bay of Bengal accompanied by storm surges are one of the major disasters in Bangladesh.