Photo credit: Nagorik Sanghati Society (Citizens Solidarity)

Key recommendations: LCG DER Task Force on Southwest Waterlogging

Task Force included:

LCG DER- MoDMR, UNDP, DFID, ECHO & Care BDLCG Agriculture & Food Security- WFP and FAO LCG Climate Change & Environment- GIZ (German Embassy) LCG Water Resource Management- Embassy of Netherlands (also invited)

Process

• ToR for the TF developed and agreed • Meeting among Development Partners• Meeting among GO-DP-INGO • Output: A recommendation paper

- Directed to GoB - Directed to development partners • Report back to LCG DER

Key recommendations’ from LCG DER to GoB: MoDMR and beyond From immediate to mid-longer term Reduce suffering and protect assets/livelihoods 1. Ensure timely and adequate humanitarian assistance

continues (especially in view of imminent monsoon as well as potential cyclone and flooding) until reasonable improvement in the situation.

2. Consider additional Social Safety Nets/ Social Protection measures.

Policy Advocacy: 3. Organize Inter-Ministerial Coordination Committee

meeting engaging relevant GoB entities (ministries, directorates, etc.) under the leadership of MoDMR.

4. Sensitize Parliamentary Standing Committees on- Disaster Management, Water Resource Management, Environment & Climate Change and relevant others about the complexities and urgency of coordinated and collective actions.

5. Enhance political awareness and influence motivation. Facilitate pro-poor decision making from the political communities on contested issues – e.g. implementation of river linking programs (e.g. Tidal River Management-TRM), shrimp vs. crop economy, land use & land ceiling, etc.

Kalaroa Keshabpur

Satkhira Sadar Tala

Water Logged Areas in South-West Bangladesh

FNot in Scale

LegendRivers

Major Roads

Water Logged Upazilas

Khulna Division

Strengthen Planning and Implementation: 1. Develop a Master Plan for the Southwest based on its unique but complex socio-economic

and political characteristics. 2. Ensure management of that slow onset-persistent-chronic disasters (e.g. SW waterlogging)

gets adequate attention in the 7th Five Year Plan

Strengthen Coordination Mechanism: 3. Develop dedicated institutional set-up and mechanism. Explore developing a crisis authority

for managing ‘chronic emergencies and/or persistent disasters’. 4. Support a dedicated & bottom up coordination mechanism for the SW waterlogged districts.

Advocate to Cabinet Division to encourage local administrations to unfold extra ordinary & time bound coordination mechanism in waterlogged areas.

Resource Mobilization: 5. Attempt ensuring financing required to fulfill the response and recovery needs of waterlogged

people. Advocate within and beyond government to link with finances dedicated to Climate Change Adaptation (Trust Fund and Resilience Fund) as a potential source alongside regular allocations.

Key recommendations

Key recommendations to Development Partners

Background analysis, Planning and Implementation: 1. Support government and other stakeholders with socio-economic & political analysis on the root causes.

Conduct technical studies to identify ‘know-how’ of specific solutions. Offer a common cross-sectoral analysis of the situation for informed decision making. Action and analysis should take place in parallel.

2. Support government with mapping of ongoing, completed and forthcoming interventions and with analysis of gaps. Offer technical assistance to government in developing an overarching response & recovery framework and extend financial support for its implementation.

3. Support Department of Disaster Management (DDM) under MoDMR to develop a contingency plan for southwest waterlogging and its timely execution.

4. Leverage on DP supported ongoing development (and DRR) programs with humanitarian actions. Stress the need to link humanitarian and development focused organizations and their current/planned programs in SW BD with waterlogging.

Ensure Coordinationated efforts: 5. Ensure cross LCG coordination, particularly embracing LCG Food Security and Agriculture, LCG Water

Resources Management and LCG Climate Change & Environment.

6. Ensure coordinated and timely response in waterlogged areas through leveraging Humanitarian Coordination Task Team (HCTT), especially in view of monsoon.

Thank you