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| Regions
and Countries - Asia and the Pacific |
Afghanistan
// Bangladesh // Bhutan
// Cambodia // China
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Cook Islands & Tokolau // East
Timor // Fiji // India
// Indonesia // Iran
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South Korea // Lao PDR // Malaysia
// Maldives // Mongolia
// Myanmar // Nepal
// Niue // Pakistan
// Papua New Guinea // Philippines
// Samoa //
Solomon Islands // Sri Lanka
// Thailand // Vietnam
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| Bangladesh |
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Bangladesh
is beset by a myriad of natural disasters. Tropical cyclones,
tidal surges, tornados, floods, droughts and large-scale riverbank
erosion all wreak havoc on the lives and livelihoods of the population.
The country’s propensity to natural disasters is due to
various environmental factors and its geographical location. Recent
estimates suggest that about 4 percent of the world’s cyclones
hit Bangladesh and that damage and losses to the country amount
to about 96 percent of the global total. In November 1970, Bangladesh’s
coastal regions were devastated by a cyclone that killed more
than 300,000 people and caused over $2.5 billion of property damage.
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More
recently, floods in 1988 and 1998 brought immense suffering to
the population. Agricultural production was disrupted and the
country’s economy was severely affected in 1998, when nearly
two thirds of the country was under water for three months. Bangladeshis
and their government are doing their best to prevent and mitigate
natural disasters, but there is an overwhelming need to strengthen
the country’s disaster preparedness and management capabilities.
Crisis Prevention and Recovery
Since the 1970s, UNDP has been working with the people of Bangladesh
to recover from and reduce the impact of natural disasters, such
as floods and cyclones. Since then thousands of local leaders
and Government officials have attended disaster management training,
while scores of communities have prepared local disaster mitigation
plans. A topic on disaster preparedness has been added to the
school curriculum. Currently a new initiative is underway aimed
at institutionalizing disaster
management across the national administration, collecting
and sharing indigenous knowledge about how to live safely with
natural calamities, and expanding disaster preparedness strategies
to cover risks emerging from rapid urbanization. In the past UNDP
has also been instrumental in mobilizing resources to provide
humanitarian assistance when needed in Bangladesh. (...)
More
information |
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| More
information |
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UNDP Bangladesh
Country Office
• UNDP
Bangladesh Crisis Prevention and Recovery
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| Projects
Related |
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Support
for Disaster Management
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| News
Related |
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August
2004 - Aide Memoire on Bangladesh Floods
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