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Bangladesh: ADRA Focuses on Flood Mitigation Training For more information, contact:
John Torres, Senior Public Relations Manager To donate to
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SILVER SPRING, Md. —In flood-prone areas of central Bangladesh, the Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) is working to reduce extreme poverty by improving disaster preparedness and strengthening community resilience against the massive floods that inundate the country every year. “In a community where over 60 percent of the population lives in extreme poverty, any flooding makes them even more vulnerable,” said Elidon Bardhi, country director for ADRA Bangladesh. “When severe flooding happens, people do not have access to work and income. This poverty cycle prohibits these communities from taking control over their own futures.” By its completion in 2011, the Empowering Flood-Prone Poor Communities (EFPPC) project will have directly benefited more than 2,000 residents in the communities of Poila and Chakmirpur located in Manikganj District, and nearly 50,000 others indirectly. To break that cycle and help affected communities gain the skills they need to withstand these disasters, the EFPPC project works directly with beneficiaries, teaching them methods that will help them reduce their vulnerability to the annual floods. The EFPPC accomplishes this by providing training to local communities, helping them develop committees to increase awareness and mitigate the effects of the disaster. Communities are also encouraged to work with other local organizations and local government authorities to reach these goals together. Since floods restrict the ability of communities to do business and disrupt travel in affected areas, EFPPC helps build structures, including homes, roads, and public buildings, that are better able to withstand floods because they are constructed above flood levels. This approach allows these raised structures to be used as shelters for people and their livestock, and roads to facilitate easy movement between villages. ADRA is also helping communities develop and strengthen household incomes through sustainable vocations that have been identified by the local community and key stakeholders. These activities include tailoring, bicycle and van repair, dairy farming, and vegetable gardening. In an effort to reduce the rate of preventable diseases and deaths that occur in the region especially in seasons of severe flooding, ADRA is improving community access to clean water and sanitation through training sessions on health, hygiene and sanitation, latrine construction, and flood-resistant well installation. ADRA expects that this will improve overall community health, reduce sickness and increase worker productivity, positively impacting household incomes. Since it first began in 2007, EFPPC has made considerable progress towards its goals, noted Bardhi, positively impacting communities members by increasing their resilience. “Their children’s lives and health are not in jeopardy any longer,” said Bardhi. “People are learning that the resources they need to improve their lives are in the community, and they need only to identify and mobilize them.” The project is funded by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency/Swedish Mission Council (SIDA/SMC) through ADRA Sweden. ADRA has been working in Bangladesh since 1971, primarily in the areas of economic development, disaster preparedness and response, literacy, primary health, and food security. Follow ADRA on Twitter and Facebook to get the latest information as it happens. ADRA is a non-governmental organization present in 125 countries providing sustainable community development and disaster relief without regard to political or religious association, age, gender, race or ethnicity. For more information about ADRA, visit www.adra.org. Author: Nadia McGill |
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