Experience of Climate Change Adaptation; Emic Perception of Community Based Disaster Risk Reduction Programs in Bangladesh

Abstract

Over 40 years (I)/ NGOs together with the Government of Bangladesh (GoB) have been working to build the capacity of population at risk to cope with natural disasters. From a response rationale to preparedness one, (I)/NGOs together with the GoB struggled to integrate adaptation frame into Disaster Risk Reduction program. Those initial steps were mainly lead by a top down approach.

Bangladesh usually pointed as the most vulnerable country in the world, has a long history of different frame of actions and practices toward building both community and individual resilience. Structural poverty and low good governance mechanisms are just some of the factors that jeopardize the gains of development project in general in Bangladesh. Donors and (I)/NGO play major roles by shaping not only the national discourse but as well by leading the practices and the methodology that needs to be used at the field. Within couple of years, community based approach has been largely adopted by different institutions as being the right way to deliver intervention that aims at reducing the vulnerability and the enhancing the resilience. It is in this context that this paper offers an insight on how DRR and adaptation is translated at the field level. Through an emic perspective this research aims at confronting the realities of the practices of DRR/ Adaptation by (I)/NGOs to the discourse that they communicate.