Meeting with policymakers helps local governments implement disaster policy
Bangladesh is known around the world as a country hit frequently by natural disasters. With cyclones to the south, famines to the north, and floods all over, disaster preparedness is as important here as anywhere in the world.
To this end, the government has a plan — the Standing Order on Disaster (SOD) — detailing its policy on how best to manage natural disasters. However, local government representatives often find it hard to translate the policy into action due to lack of resources and know-how, and sparse contact with policy makers.
For example, Samsul Alam, who has been elected chairperson of the Datbhanga Union in Roumari, Kurigram several terms since 1988, had never met a top-level disaster management policy maker — until last month.
In a meeting set up by Friendship and the Department of Disaster Management (DDM) that was the first of its kind, Mr. Alam and 20 other Union council chairpersons directly addressed the top disaster policy makers and bureaucrats. One by one, they aired the problems in their constituencies: from a lack of flood shelters or water facilities to roads lying in disrepair.
Suddenly, issues that they had been trying unsuccessfully to resolve for years were making progress in a matter of minutes. With a phone call or an order to an assistant, surveys were ordered to identify land for flood shelters, budget directives assigned for special initiatives, and an ultimatum delivered to repair 34km of roads within 40 days.
“I would like to thank Friendship first and foremost. It’s thanks to them that I was able to be here today in front of the Secretary and discuss issues directly with key decision makers,” said Md. Kobir Hossain, chairman of the Bandaber Union in Kurigram.
Hossain asked for two new flood shelters, and the Secretary of the Ministry of Disaster Management and Relief committed to building them as long as Hossain provided the land.
The meeting brought together 21 union council chairpersons from the most disaster-prone unions with senior policy officials and experts from the Ministry of Disaster Management and Relief and DDM.
The meeting followed a training workshop jointly organized by Friendship and DDM. Both initiatives were a step forward towards improving the translation of policy into action and creating a platform for interaction between policy-makers and ground-level implementers.
“The translation of policy directions into action, and being receptive to local thinking: these are the pre-conditions to finding the way forward in implementing disaster preparedness, response and development,” said Kazi Amdadul Hoque, Head of Disaster Management at Friendship.
Local leaders who have worked with Friendship for the past three years as part of the “Community Managed Disaster Risk Reduction” program also shared some of their success stories and techniques.
“This is great way of linking grassroots local government with the national level officials from time to time to exchange views, and accelerate development initiatives,” said Runa Khan, Founder and Executive Director of Friendship.
The workshop was held on 9 March 2017 at the DDM’s conference room. Kazi Amdadul Hoque (Head of Disaster Management at Friendship) moderated the session. Also present were Shah Kamal (Secretary of the Ministry of Disaster Management and Relief), Reaz Rahman, (Director General of the Dept. of Disaster Management), Runa Khan (Friendship Founder and Executive Director), H.E. Sophie Aubert (Ambassador of France to Bangladesh), as well as senior officials and representatives from the UN and other International organizations. The program concluded Friendship’s Community Managed Disaster Risk Reduction program supported by Friendship Luxembourg.
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