Qazi Kholiquzzaman Ahmad Chairman, Bangladesh Unnayan Parishad (BUP)

Delhi CC&SD Workshop 7-8 April 2006

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SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT: FROM COMMUNITY APPROACHES TO FLOOD VULNERABILITY REDUCTION TO CLIMATE CHANGE ADAPTATION IN SOUTH ASIA

Qazi Kholiquzzaman AhmadChairman, Bangladesh Unnayan Parishad (BUP)President, Bangladesh Economic Association (BEA)


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Sustainable development is now widely agreed to imply: a coordinated promotion of economic, social, and ecological objectives, involving all segments of population

These three basic pillars are entwined and are mutually influenced through a complex of feed-back relationships

Constructing Sustainable Development Pathway


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Sustainable development pathway, can, therefore, be constructed through an integrated approach, involving key elements of the three pillars

Constructing Sustainable Development Pathway (contd.)


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It is, therefore, essential that for sustainable development (economic and social) and climate change communities Work together Appreciate the importance of inter-

linkages and collectively formulate policies and processes



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The political process has also to be sensitized and supportive because it is the political process that creates the policy environment, institutional support, and financing arrangement directly as well as through private sectors by the appropriate incentives



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SAARC countries (except the newly admitted Afghanistan) contain a total population of 1.4 billion, about 22 per cent of the world total

Sustainable Development in South Asia: Challenges Faced, even without Climate Change (CC)


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But, its landmass is only 3.4 per cent of the world landmass

Between 400 and 500 million people are below national poverty lines, accounting for about one-third of the total population of the region and about 40 per cent of the world’s total poor population

Sustainable Development in South Asia: Challenges Faced, even without CC (contd.)


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Population growth rates are still high in the region, which are Bangladesh (1.7%) India (1.4%), Maldives (2.4%), Pakistan (2.0), Sri Lanka (0.7%)

Efforts are afoot to reduce population growth rate in each country, but still a long way to go before a stabilization can be reached



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The countries of the region are achieving reasonable or even high economic growth rate, but, disparity has been increasing, given that the poor do not get their equitable shares



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According to the latest available data (Circa 2000), the national income share of the poorest 10 per cent in Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka from 3.4 per cent to 3.9 per cent, while that of the richest 10 per cent varies from 27 per cent to 29 per cent



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The situation has in fact worsened since 2000

The poor are severely disadvantaged because of extremely low human capability (education, training, and health)



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The poor suffer from extremely limited access to resources (land, capital, environmental facilities) and from political and social marginalization

Moreover, there are severe gender inequalities



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Clearly, therefore, a lot needs to be done to create a cohesive socio-economic-political environment, involving all segments of society



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While there are sustainability problems in relation to economic and social development, environmental degradation also continues unabated. As a result, the natural base of economic growth is severely threatened



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Severe stresses are, therefore, faced by the South Asian countries in relation to all aspects (economic, social, environmental) of sustainable development



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In the Wake of Climate Change

Climate change generally renders the natural systems increasingly fragile and degrades the conditions in which human systems operate



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When climate change is superimposed on the persisting, even accentuating social, economic, and environmental problems faced, the way forward is extremely complex and difficult

Sustainable Development in South Asia: Challenges Faced, even without CC (contd.) In the Wake of Climate Change (contd.)


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In order to get through the interlinked deficits and stresses, a multi-pronged integrated approach is necessary to make progress towards sustainable development


In the Wake of Climate Change (contd.)


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WE NOW EXPLORE The linkages between community approaches to

disaster (flood) management on the one hand and sustainable development in general and climate change adaptation in particular, on the other - based on a pilot study conducted in Bangladesh, India, and Nepal on Community Approaches to Flood Management (CAFM) during 2002-2005


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Community Approaches to Flood Management (CAFM) in South Asia The CAFM pilot project has been implemented,

with support from WMO/GWP APFM, by Bangladesh Unnayan Parishad (BUP), Dhaka (two flood-

prone locations) Institute for Resource management and Economic

Development (IRMED), New Delhi (three flood-prone locations)

Jalstrot Vikas Sanstha (JVS), Kathmandu (two flood-prone locations)

* BUP is the coordinating organization


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CAFM in South Asia (contd.)

Avoiding flood risks through awareness building and community preparedness.

Reducing losses and damages at the grassroots (household, public institutions, infrastructure)

The Purposes


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Capacity building of the communities to face flood more effectively

Facilitating the access of the communities to organized services from relevant agencies (local government, CBOs/NGOs, agencies of the central state government)

The Purposes (contd.)


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Seeking to enhance congruence of micro-level action with macro policies (for policy, institutional, and resource support)

Continuous education and capacity enhancement

The purposes (contd.)


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CAFM in South Asia (contd.) Field Work and Flood Management Manual

Development Data and information have been collected

througha. Field visits/focus group discussions (FGDs)b. Participatory rural appraisals (PRAs)c. Key informants interviews


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Based on data and information collected and insights gathered

a. Main flood-related problems faced by the communities were identified

b. The ways the people themselves address the problems identified

c. Using the outcomes of these analyses and further discussions, as required, with the communities, Flood management Manual (FMM) were prepared


Development (contd.)


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Development (contd.) FMMs were then field-tested and wide-scale

discussions were held with the local communities of the study areas

Based on the results of those field tests and discussions and further analysis, FMMs were revised

A synthesis of the three country-manuals was finally prepared


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From sustainable development, people have to be empowered through

improvement in their economic status and enhancement of their social development on one

hand, while on the other improvement of their resilience and capacity to

face natural disasters, which are likely to be more severe and more frequent due to climate change, more effectively

Sustainable Development: The Way Forward


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Climate Change in South Asia Parts of South Asia are at the forefront of

climate change, involving both natural and human systems (IPCC 2001), for example Coastal and low-lying areas due to

increased precipitation and floods, storm surges, and sea-level rises; widespread water-borne and vector-borne diseases

Severe droughts in parts of India, Pakistan, and Afghanistan but also in other countries; heat-related diseases.


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Glaciers in the Himalayas are retreating with increasing melting due to global warming. This process will increase dry season flows and sediment loads in the Himalayas rivers in the short run. Over longer run, dry season flows in the rivers will decrease, with consequent economic, social, and environment problems

Climate Change in South Asia (contd.)


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Climate Change in South Asia (contd.) Adverse impact on the agriculture (crop,

fishery, forestry, and livestock), industry, navigation

The poor and the disadvantaged, who have extremely limited economic capacity, and often live in marginal areas are liable to suffer the most


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Climate change issues were not included in the CAFM exercise

But, people have shown keen awareness that severe floods are occurring more frequently in recent times

CAFM and Climate Change


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From CAFM to Climate Change Adaptation The Manuals have generated the following

outputs for pre-flood, during-flood, and post-flood stages

Lists of challenges faced Lists of activities the people themselves

undertake to manage floods Lists of activities on which people need

capacity improvement, and the ways of achieving that capacity improvement


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From CAFM to Climate Change Adaptation (contd.) The Manuals (contd.) Training, liaison with other local high level agencies

are envisaged And a key proposal is the setting up of Community

Flood Management Committees (CFMCs) in cooperation with the local government institutions (Union Parishad in Bangladesh and Panchayet in India and Nepal). The members of the committee are drawn from various walks of life and sensitized and trained as required, by a facilitating organization


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From CAFM to Climate Change Adaptation (contd.) The Manuals (contd.) The CFMC will plan, facilitate, organize

training programmes, and undertake other community-level activities, facilitating by a relevant local/national institution, at pre-, during, and post-flood stages


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The manuals were implemented, obviously, including setting up of CFMCs and training programmes conducted, intwo areas in Bangladesh, two areas in Nepal, and one area in India; and found to be very beneficial

Although, the implementation has been very limited, the efficacy of the approach seems broadly validated. Wide-scale replication is needed

From CAFM to Climate Change Adaptation (contd.)


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Once the capacity of the communities are, thus, enhanced to manage floods or other natural disasters, a major step will have been achieved towards adaptation to climate change

It will be necessary to incorporate climate risk assessments in the process, for which linkages with national and international sources of climate change information will be needed to be tapped

Also, linkages with national and international sources of assistance will be required

From CAFM to Climate Change Adaptation (contd.)


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Thank you

Qazi Kholiquzzaman Ahmad Chairman, Bangladesh Unnayan Parishad (BUP)

Documents

climate change adaptation

flood vulnerability

community approaches

south asiabut

south asiait

south asiasaarc countries

total population

cc contd