Waterlogged people find an answer for survival
Abu Baker :: A lasting solution for around 12000 waterlogged households in Shatkhira and Jessore districts is met when six INGOs extended their hands under the National Alliance for Risk Reduction Initiatives (NAARI) Consortium to provide with housing and sanitation solution to the people affected severely by water logging.
A project called ‘Flood Resistant Shelter (FRESH) and Sanitation’ project was initiated by Oxfam, Action Aid, CARE, Concern Worldwide, Islamic Relief and Solidarities of NAARI Consortium in 2012, to respond to the shelter and sanitation needs of the most vulnerable communities affected by water logging. Led by Oxfam and funded by UKaid, the project aimed to provide a combination of disaster resilient shelters and WASH (water sanitation and hygiene) support for families whose homes were destroyed during the recent flood in 2011 and also for prolong water logging.
A National Workshop was arranged yesterday in Dhaka to share the outcomes since the inception till the closure of the project. Addressing the workshop as the chief guest, Rawnak Mahmud, Acting Director General of NGO Affairs Bureau said,” If initiative like FRESH was not taken to solve the waterlogging problem, Southwest region would have been emerged as another poverty-prone region in Bangladesh.” He also thanked all the NGOs for coming forward along with the government to address the sufferings of the people in Shatkhira and Jessore districts. He however mentioned that there are many areas left where people still are water logged, and consortium approach could be replicated there.
Earlier, Kaiser Rejve from Oxfam presented the keynote paper on the project and Gareth Price-jones, Oxfam’s Country Director in Bangladesh briefed about the consortium approach led by Oxfam.
AKM Musha, Country Director, Concern Worldwide, Md Abdul Qayyum, Additional Secretary and NPD-CDMP, also spoke among others. Representatives from government, media, donor, civil society and NAARI consortium were present in the workshop.
