Together We Stand

[ 68 ] 1988 but we suffered very little. I could easily look after my family, my daughter and our livestock.” The community built the plinth. Islamic Relief provided 250 million cubic feet of earth and installed two tube-wells for the community plus a latrine for every family. The steep banks of the plinth are equipped with ramps so the elderly and disabled can get to and from the paddy fields and the river. They’re also planted with grass to feed livestock and prevent erosion. At the top of the banks are jika saplings — trees that are resilient in wet conditions and can provide both an effective windbreak and a supply of wood for house- building and repairs. Each home has a vegetable garden, and some of the houses already have plants loaded with large pumpkins growing extensively over their roofs. Asma and her husband, Mohamed Abdu Rajak, lost all their livestock in previous floods. In 2012 the story was different. They started again with four goats and 30 chickens — all of which survived the June floods on top of the new plinth. Abdu scraped a living from fishing in the nearby Jamuna river until the floodwaters subsided enough for him to plant their fields again. When that time came the family was ready — thanks to the flood survival kit Asma kept in her home. It contained a variety of rice and vegetable seeds among more than a dozen useful items. There was a length of rope to tie belongings together and secure them to a raft; dried food, matches and a fuel-efficient portable stove; oral rehydra- tion salts and water purification tablets; dysentery medicine and chewable vitamin C tablets; and a bar of carbolic soap to ward off snakes (which hate the smell). South Kabilpur elected Asma as secretary of its village disas- ter committee. “They thought I would be able to communicate easily with people and get the message across about preparing for floods,” she said. “My life has changed so much because I have become a woman leader in this community and people listen to what I have to say.” The plinth has proved its value to other families living nearby. The original 21 families invited 15 others to take refuge there when the floods came. “If Islamic Relief hadn’t raised our houses we would have lost some animals and many other assets,” said Asma. “We were very happy and proud to be able to help other people too.” National and local policy development As well as being involved in implementing disaster risk reduction projects, Islamic Relief is playing a prominent role in formulating local and national disaster risk reduction policy, supporting the strengthening of government institutions, and improving local disaster risk reduction financing. It is doing so as part of a number of alliances and partnerships. “At the local level, working with union disaster management committees (UDMCs) has been a very successful experience for us,” said Syed Shahnawaz Ali of Islamic Relief. “These committees are mandated by the Government of Bangladesh to deliver risk reduction and adaptation programmes at the local level. They are playing a fundamental role not only in project delivery but also in increasing community involvement and ownership to build resilience.” Each UDMC has full responsibility for designing and imple- menting its own resilience plan. IRB is working particularly closely with three UDMCs in Gaibanda, and in only six months these committees secured almost Tk20 million (US$250,000) in funding from local government and the local community. IRB has also forged close links with village development committees and subdistrict disaster management committees to ensure that the voice of disaster-affected communities is heard by local and national government bodies. At the national level IRB is amember of the National Alliance for Risk Reduction and Response Initiatives (NARRI) of Bangladesh. This is a remarkable initiative of 10 international non-governmen- tal organizations (Islamic Relief, ActionAid Bangladesh, CARE, ConcernWorldwide, Concern Universal, Handicap International, Help Age International, Oxfam, Plan International and Solidarities International) that has demonstrated the scale of impact which can be achieved by working in collaboration. It has formalized several partnerships including with the Government’s Department of Disaster Management, the Comprehensive Disaster Management project, the Fire Service and Civil Defence, Directorate General of Health Services and local universities (Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology and BRAC University). It has also developed mass media campaign materials, supported the national monitoring process, and created training curricula for government. NARRI engages communities from the very begin- ning in their disaster risk reduction initiatives. The community itself conducts the risk assessments. Existing indigenous knowl- edge and practices are promoted and scaled up before proposing any other pertinent preparedness measures. Another objective of the consortium was to establish links between communities and local emergency service providers. Drills are held regularly so that citizens are better prepared during an emergency to minimize casualties as well as economic loss. In 2013, NARRI won the prestigious Sasakawa Award for Disaster Risk Reduction for setting up examples of noteworthy success in reducing disaster risk and thereby the negative impact of disasters on communities in its large working area through collective efforts. Asma with her husband Mohammed Abu Rajak (a fisherman) and her daughter Ria Image: Martin Cottingham - Islamic Relief T ogether W e S tand