Northeastern Bangladesh Flood Response 2022
Purpose:
Due to heavy rainfall in the Indian states of Assam and Arunachal Pradesh, the flood waters of Surma, Kushiyara and other rivers overflowed, causing severe flooding in Greater Sylhet. The floods started on 17 May 2022 affecting Sylhet and Sunamganj districts of Sylhet divison. Later from 17 June, it assumed a more devastating magnitude and affected additional districts in Sylhet and Mymensingh divisions. Currently a total of 14 districts (Sylhet, Sunamganj, Hobigonj, Moulvibazar, Mymensingh, Netrokona, Jamalpur, Sherpur, Rangpur, Panchagarh, Nilphamari, Lalmonirhat, Kurigram, Thakurgaon, Dinajpur and Gaibandha including 61 Upazilas and 388 unions) have been affected either fully or partially. However, the health impact in terms of deaths, injuries and diseases have been more pronounced in Sylhet and Sunamganj districts.
An estimated 7.2 million people have been severely affected following devastating flash floods between May and June 2022 only in the nine northeastern districts of Bangladesh: Sylhet, Sunamganj, Moulvibazar, Habiganj, Kishorganj, Netrakona, Brahmanbaria, Mymensing and Sherpur. Among the nine districts, the five districts that are most heavily impacted are Sylhet, Sunamganj, Moulivazar, Habiganj and Netrakona.
The flood affected people of the greater Sylhet division who lost not only their houses, but also the essential household materials.
To mitigate the plights of the flood affected people of Sylhet, a humanitarian aid program will be initiated by the HFH with the help of HEED Bangladesh, a reputed local NGO working in the area of health, economy and education sector since 1974. The humanitarian aid program includes distribution of some essential household materials and house building tools for the selected 1,100 beneficiary families in 6 Unions of Companigonj, a sub-district of Sylhet. The repair materials and tools like the tarpaulin and hand tools that will be provided will help the beneficiary families to repair their houses which are fully or partially destroyed by the flood water. And the materials like mats, blankets, kitchen utensils will help them to ease their life as most of what they used to have are destroyed or lost during the flood. The hygiene kits will minimize the risks of spreading of water borne diseases which is very likely to happen when the flood water subsides. The women are even prone to health related complicacies as the water is contaminated.
The support will definitely help the flood affected people of Companigonj to survive the after effects of the disaster. The women and children are especially vulnerable after any such disaster occurs. The inadequacy of shelter makes them vulnerable to various insecurities like physical and sexual abuses, limits access to basic needs like water and sanitation. As a result the women and the children suffer not only from maltreatments and exploitations but also are exposed to diseases and other health issues.
Description of Implementation
The initiation of the project will begin with the signing of the MoU between HFH and HEED Bangladesh. During the first week after signing of the MoU, the Implementing Partner (i.e. HEED Bangladesh) has to receive the FD-7, the government approval to conduct such humanitarian programs. After approval is granted, the personnel for the project implementation would be recruited following the organization’s HR policy. Along with that the office setup will be done. Then the beneficiaries would be selected following the guidelines provided by the HFH. By this time period procurement process would be done conforming the procurement policy of the organization. Upon selection of the beneficiaries the distribution of the materials would be done among the 1,100 beneficiary households in 6 Unions of Companigonj. After completion of the distribution program, the last or the third phase of the program implementation will be done, i.e. the reporting and evaluation.
