Articles

Every year, Bangladesh is ravaged by devastating floods that are becoming more frequent and severe due to climate change and multiple other factors. The floods cause immense harm to people’s lives, livelihoods, properties, and agricultural production. In this context, a workshop on the annual progress of the project titled ‘Development of Local Flood Early Warning and Dissemination System' was held in Dhaka, Bangladesh today. This component of the PROVATi project, financially supported by International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and technically supported by RIMES aims to reduce damages and casualties through improved flood early warning system. The workshop was presided over by State Minister of Disaster Management and Relief Ministry Dr. Md. Enamur Rahman MP (Chief Guest) and Director General Department of Disaster Management Md. Mijanur Rahman. Other eminent guests included Ministry of Disaster Management and Relief (MoDMR) Secretary Md. Kamrul Hasan NDC, Guest of Honor Additional Director General at Bangladesh Water Development Board (BWDB) Mr. Amirul Haq Bhuiyan and Local Government Engineering Department (LGED) Chief Engineer Sk. Md. Mohsin. Besides this, representatives of various national and international organizations including Directorate of Local Government Engineering, Directorate of Meteorology, Bangladesh Water Development Board (BWDB), development partner International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) participated in the workshop. At the program, progress made through the project on local flood early warning and dissemination system was discussed. This included updates related to completion of the baseline survey, project activity progression and inauguration of development of an online database portal of Disaster Management Committee for dissemination of vital early warning information in all districts, unions and wards of Bangladesh. Chief guest State Minister Dr. Md. Enamur Rahman, said that the program will play a crucial role in reducing the loss of lives and properties of the flood-vulnerable areas and contribute to capacity development of the local communities for enhanced disaster risk reduction. He thanked IFAD and development partners for providing assistance in this process and emphasized on integrated efforts to achieve the sustainable development goals together. Meanwhile, chairperson Md. Kamrul Hasan NDC, in his speech, emphasized on disseminating flood early warnings to the people in an easy-to-understand language. Similarly, Mr. Md. Mijanur Rahman, DG Department of Disaster Management (DDM) said that flood inundation maps of the vulnerable areas through drone survey will make flood forecasting more effective. Guest of Honor, BWDB Additional Director General, Mr. Amirul Haq Bhuiyan emphasized on integrated activities for the implementation of this project and assured cooperation from the FFWC-BWDB. Likewise, Mr. Netai Chandra Dey Sarker, Project Coordinator of PROVATi Project-DDM Component, delivered the welcome speech of the workshop and presented a short overview of the project's accomplishments. He also thanked all the participants for attending the workshop. The Promoting Resilience of Vulnerable Through Access to Infrastructure, Improved Skills and Information (PROVATi) project is being implemented with support from IFAD under the lead agency LGED. This component under the Department of Disaster Management (DDM) aims to reduce disaster risks and save lives and livelihoods in vulnerable areas from floods and natural disasters through dissemination of flood early warning to the root level users. The initiative, which covers 19 upazilas of Kurigram, Gaibandha and Jamalpur in the northern region of Bangladesh, is being implemented with technical support from RIMES.

A two-day residential training program ‘Forecast Interpretation and Advisory Generation for Extension Officials’ was held earlier this week in Dhaka, Bangladesh. The training aimed at developing the capacities of the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) officials as well as orienting them on the agromet generation process at the local level using various forecast products. Extension officials from Rajshahi, Chapai Nawabganj, Satkhira and Barisal regions of Bangladesh took part in the training program. During the opening session, scientists from Bangladesh Rice Research Institute (BRRI), Meteorologists from Bangladesh Meteorological Department (BMD) and technical experts from RIMES held sessions on fundamentals of weather forecast, crop-weather relationship, influence of weather on pests and disease outbreaks, application of seasonal forecasts in strategic decision-making as well as accessing forecast products. On the following day, the participants were requested to prepare their respective local level agromet advisories based on the available forecast products which helped them to better understand the advisory generation process. At the session, the project director of Bangladesh Agrometeorological Information System Development Project (AMISDP) explained the mechanisms of the current agromet advisory system in Bangladesh. One of the training participants, Umme Salma, District Training Officer of Rajshahi said that this training program was a great initiative to explore the operational agromet services in Bangladesh. She is now confident about preparing more localized and customized agromet advisories rather than depending on previous district level advisories. She also hoped that similar capacity building programs are organized in future so that more extension officials will be able to interpret the forecast products and generate localized advisories. The training was organized as part of the Asia Regional Resilience to a Changing Climate (ARRCC) program implemented through support from the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office in collaboration with BMD and UK Met Office. The ARRCC program is being implemented in various countries of South Asia including Bangladesh with an aim to build climate and environmental resilience by improving the application and access to weather and climate services at the regional and national level. In addition, the program is supporting development of new technologies and innovative approaches to help vulnerable communities use weather warnings and forecasts to better prepare for climate-related shocks.

It is all systems go for the “Development of Nepal's National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority (NDRRMA)'s Decision Support System (DSS) for lmpact-based Multi-Hazard Early Warning System”. The NDRRMA officially green-lighted it in a letter, issued on July 31, 2022, expressing confirmation of the implementation plan prepared by the Regional Integrated Multi-Hazard Early Warning System (RIMES). The plan outlines institutional gaps and the approach and methodology that will be adopted in DSS preparation, design, development, deployment, and sustainability efforts. The DSS for NDRRMA is an automated tool designed to facilitate climate-informed decision-making by generating guiding insights on climate-informed development and growth interventions based on analyses of past, present, and potential or future climate risks and opportunities in key socio-economic areas. For instance, using the system, a 10-day lead time for rainfall, maximum or minimum temperature, wind speed, and humidity, and analysis of risks associated with such forecasts, can be provided to relevant districts, allowing emergency responders to anticipate hazard or disaster scenarios, implement actions for reducing risks, and allocate resources for timely responses to emergency requirements, including rescue efforts if necessary. In a statement, NDRRMA Joint Secretary Rameshowr Marhatta noted how the proposed system is anticipated to help boost the agency’s work, particularly in hazard and disaster preparedness. The DSS tailored to the requirements of Nepal’s disaster risk reduction and management sector will be co-produced by RIMES and NDRRMA, along with other relevant sectoral bodies, as part of the World Bank-funded Climate Adaptation and Resilience for South Asia (CARE) Project. The CARE project aims to contribute to resilience-building in the region through enhanced access to regional data and knowledge; development of climate-smart guidelines, tools, and capacities; and promotion of climate-resilient decisions, policies, and investments across key public sectors in participating countries, namely Bangladesh, Nepal, and Pakistan. Visit www.careforsouthasia.info to learn more

19 journalists from local print and broadcast media, including community radio, participated in a training titled ‘Training on Interpretation of Early Warning Information for Local Journalists' in Bogura, Bangladesh on Tuesday. The training aimed to enhance the knowledge and capacities of the journalists and broadcasters on dissemination of weather information and flood early warning to the local communities. The training sessions covered various topics including interpretation of weather and flood forecasts, thunder-storm and lightning science, last–mile communication and consideration of weather anomalies among others. At the training, participants talked about the types of support they expect from the national meteorological and hydrological service providers (NMHSs) and discussed areas of possible collaboration with RIMES to strengthen last mile communication. The recommendations included development of effective Public Service Announcements (PSAs), IEC materials, awareness raising programs for students/youths and courtyard sessions with local communities among others. Md. Arifuzzaman Bhuyan, Executive Engineer, and Sarder Udoy Raihan, Sub Divisional Engineer from the Flood Forecasting and Warning Center (FFWC) attended the program as facilitators along with RIMES team members. The training is a part of a series of capacity building initiatives for media practitioners to help them interpret early warning information, build enduring relationships with NMHSs and create practical and actionable programming for the local communities. The initiatives are a part of the ‘Strengthening Last Mile Communications’ program, which is being implemented in four countries across the South Asia region including Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. It aims to work on climate resilience through effective dissemination of timely early warning information among last-mile users for improved disaster preparedness and risk mitigation. The program is funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) through the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR) and is implemented by RIMES.