The government of Bangladesh and UN agencies have jointly initiated the National Resilience Program (NRP) to sustain the resilience of human and economic development in Bangladesh through inclusive and gender-responsive disaster management and disaster risk-informed development.
The NRP has been launched today at a hotel in Dhaka. The programme is funded by the Government of Bangladesh, Department for International Development (DFID) and the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA) and being implemented by the Ministry of Disaster Management and Relief (MoDMR), Programming Division of the Bangladesh Planning Commission, Ministry of Women and Children Affairs (MoWCA) and the Local Government Division (LGD).
This 3-years long programme will be implemented having a technical partnership with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), UN Women and United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS).
Md. Mohsin, Additional Secretary of the Ministry of Disaster Management and Relief and also the National Programme Coordinator of the National Resilience Programme presented the overview and action plan of the programme. Speaking at the launching ceremony as the chief guest, Disaster Management and Relief Minister, Mofazzal Hossain Chowdhury Maya said, “Due to the adverse impact of climate change, Bangladesh is always facing natural disasters, and that’s why we need to continue our effort to protect the lives and livelihoods from natural disasters.”
He hoped the newly launched National Launched Programme would further build the capacity of the relevant ministries and increase the resilience to natural disasters.
The ministers called upon all the line ministries and development partners to implement the programme effectively and efficiently for disaster risk reduction in line with the Government Commitment to implement the Sendai Framework.
The program has four parts. The Department of Disaster Management part will focus on disability inclusive and gender-responsive capacities, Programming Division part will focus on the capacity for disaster and climate risk-informed planning, Department of Women part will focus on the gender dimension of the programme and the LGED part will focus on resilient infrastructures.
Md. Shah Kamal, Secretary, MoDMR in his remarks while presiding over the ceremony and mentioned that, to sustain the economic and human development, it’s essential to have a strong partnership for inclusive disaster risk reduction plan.”
He added that, 18 ministries of the Government of Bangladesh are engaged with disaster management, so effective coordination is must for sustaining the disaster risk management initiatives.
He hopes that NRP will enhance the strategic intervention and minimize the challenges of disaster management. “ The Government of Bangladesh is following Whole of Society Approach in disaster management, he added.
He underscored the need for construction of 3000 cyclone centers in line with 7th Five Year Plan for minimizing the disaster risks of vulnerable peoples in cyclone prone areas.
Ms. Mia Seppo, UN Resident Coordinator to Bangladesh emphasized on inclusive development, resilient infrastructure, engagement of the private sector in risk-informed business continuity plan and integration of global commitment in national development planning.
Swedish Ambassador to Bangladesh Charlotta Schlyter, said “Bangladesh needs the engagement of women to fight and adapt disaster and climate risks. She underscored the need for gender-responsive disaster management planning for enhancing sustainable development efforts.
Among others, the launching ceremony was also addressed by Kabir Bin Anwar, Secretary of the Ministry of Water Resource, Mahbub Hossain, Additional Secretary of the Local Government Division, Md. Ainul Kabir , Additional Secretary of the Ministry of Women and Children Affairs, Kazal Islam ndc, Additional Secretary of the Planning Division of the Ministry of Planning, and Omar Farook, Humanitarian Adviser of DFID, Bangladesh.
