Sunday, March 2, 2008

Post cyclone relief and rebuilding for the affected families in Bangladesh


Post cyclone relief and rebuilding for the affected families in Bangladesh

Following the relief operations in the SIdr affected areas, Concern Worldwide with its partners SANGRAM and SPEED TRUST has started a 6-month rehabilitation project (February – July 08) which will benefit 14,550 families in 7 upazilas of Barguna and Patuakhali districts. This project is being funded by ECHO and will provide rehabilitation support to the extreme poor people through housing, sanitation and drinking water to cope and recover their normal lives as well as scope to pursue income generation. The project will:

- reconstruct houses and install sanitary latrines for 3,000 families
- offer casual labour for 2,500 families whereby a source of income will be generated
- 50 fishermen will be given boats and other equipments (nets, engine).
- clean and desalinate 500 ponds, repair/reconstruct 100 Pond Sand Filter (PSF), and install 75 deep tube wells

The target beneficiaries of the project are poor and vulnerable families, who have been severely affected by the Tropical cyclone living in rural communities, with a focus on landless people, day labourers, and socially vulnerable people (e.g. female-headed households, disabled people, elderly people and ethnic minority groups). Most families have now returned to their homes. The tropical cyclone has adversely affected the life and livelihoods of these people causing both mental and physical strain as a result of the damage inflicted.

Post flood rehabilitation for the affected families in Bangladesh

After two consecutive and devastating floods in 2007, Concern Worldwide with 12 partner organisations has started a 8-month rehabilitation (February – September 2008) for 29,600 affected families in 16 upazilas of 10 districts. The project funded by ECHO aims to provide rehabilitation support to the extreme poor and marginal farmers through employment opportunities, agricultural support, housing and sanitation to cope and recover their livelihoods. The project will:

- provide employment for 9,000 families for 45 days through earth raising activities
- raise grounds of 45 schools and flood shelters and homesteads of 3,000 (app) families
- provide a packet of vegetable seeds for 29,600 families for homestead gardening.
- Give Tk 500 as cash grant to 19,000 farmer families to purchase fertilizer and arrange irrigation
- Reconstruct homes and install sanitary latrines for 1,600 families

The families to be supported by this project live in remote rural areas in the northern and central parts of Bangladesh and are extreme poor and marginalised farmers severely affected by the flood and lost their assets and livelihood options. It is estimated that a total of 29,600 families with a population of 148,000 would be supported by the proposed rehabilitation interventions. Among the targeted families, 19,000 families would be supported with vegetable seeds and cash grant for cultivation; 9,000 families (one person from each family) with cash-for-work and 1,600 families with house re-construction.