Disaster Response And Recovery Facility (DRRF) - Disaster Risk Management in Cox's Bazar Programme

Action Implemented

The objective of the project is to reduce the seasonal weather and disaster vulnerability of at-risk Rohingya and Bangladeshi host communities in Cox’s Bazar through effective multi-hazard risk management. Areas of work include: - Enhancement of local government preparedness for response - Hazard and disaster risk analysis in Cox’s Bazar and Rohingya camps - Community-based disaster risk reduction - Support to humanitarian actors for mainstreaming of disaster risk management in refugee response - Capacity enhancement for risk-informed development and residual risk management

Outcomes and Expected Impact

The Project works to achieve this objective by supporting contingency planning in host communities and within the Rohingya response; improvement of forecasting and risk analysis; implementation of landslide and flash flood mitigation measures in underserved communities; technical support to humanitarian actors and local government; support to improve disaster risk literacy of duty bearers; and support to enhance local landslide search and rescue capacity.

Sustainability and Scalability

To support the government and humanitarian actors’ efforts to manage the seasonal and extreme weather events associated with the cyclone and rainy season, UNDP is implementing an area-based programme for strengthening Disaster Risk Management in Cox’s Bazar.

Innovative and Cultural Aspects

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in partnership with UNHCR, the UN refugee agency, the Geological Survey of Bangladesh (GSB) and the Norwegian Geotechnical Institute (NGI) installed state of the art rain gauges in three landslide-prone areas around the Rohingya refugee sites in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh. ”By using a tool piloted locally by the Geological Survey of Bangladesh and working together, we want to make sure that the technology is locally appropriate and that the information generated by the gauges is fed back to national institutions for further analysis. Landslides are increasingly recognised as a threat to communities in this part of Bangladesh,” said Cathrine Tranberg Haarsaker, UNDP Disaster Risk Reduction Specialist

Lessons Learned

The climate and topography of Cox’s Bazar creates an environment where local communities are exposed to multiple natural hazards, and experience recurring extreme weather events. Vulnerable Bangladeshi communities in the district have long borne the brunt of cyclones, landslides and flash floods.

Social Inclusion

The Rohingya crisis has increased the size of the population at risk and is driving the creation of new risks due to deforestation, hill-cutting, and infrastructure pressure. Hence, the objective of the project is to reduce the seasonal weather and disaster vulnerability of at-risk Rohingya and Bangladeshi host communities in Cox’s Bazar through effective multi-hazard risk management.