Highlights
3.7 million people are directly affected by the monsoon flooding in northern and central Bangladesh that claimed around 100 lives; of which 64 % is children
A Humanitarian Response Plan of US$ 13.6 million to assist 130,965 affected people has been released by the Humanitarian Country Team; UNICEF requires US$ 2.3 million and current funding gap is 98%.
50,000 people have benefited from UNICEF WASH support; 1,500 children are being reached with psychosocial support
Situation Overview & Humanitarian Needs
2016 Monsoon season started on July 22nd. The impact of the monsoon increased gradually over the following weeks. An estimated 3.7 million people across 19 districts of Bangladesh are affected by monsoon-induced floods. 106 people died to date as a consequence of the floods.1 7,400 people sought refuge in 69 flood shelters and education institutions. The official estimates indicate at least 250,000 houses have been destroyed or damaged.2 Riverbank erosion has resulted in a large number of houses and homesteads being washed away. 16,770 houses and homesteads were reported completely lost with a further 65,156 partially damaged by erosion. The districts which have experienced the great impact of the floods are Jamalpur, Kurigram, Sirajgonj, Tangail and Gaibanda which account for more than 70% of the affected people. It is worth noting that all of these districts were also amongst the worst affected by the flooding in September 2014 affecting around 2 million people in North-Western Bangladesh.
Humanitarian leadership and coordination
Considering the severe deterioration of the situation, an inter-cluster meeting was organised on August 1st as well as an ad-hoc Humanitarian Coordination Task Team (HCCT) on August 4th that decided to trigger a Rapid Needs Assessment. Based on the findings of the Assessment, the clusters revised their draft response plan and the HCTT Humanitarian Response Plan seeking US$ 13.6 million to assist 130,965 people was presented to the HCTT on August 11th and finalised on August 16th.
Humanitarian Strategy
The overall goal of the humanitarian country team is to ensure that people severely affected by the monsoon floods receive timely and appropriate humanitarian assistance. The team has three strategic objectives: (1) to meet protection and life-saving needs of the most vulnerable population; (2) to ensure immediate resumption of education activities; and, (3) to support urgent restoration of livelihood opportunities.
Summary Analysis of Programme response
For the immediate response, UNICEF in collaboration with the Department of Public Health Engineering (DPHE) has provided water purification tablets, hygiene kits and bleaching powder to support approximately 50,000 people. UNICEF is providing emergency psychosocial and recreational support to 1,500 children. UNICEF Bogra and Mymensing Field Offices are closely monitoring the situation on the ground with the subnational government authorities.
Communications for Development (C4D)
UNICEF-supported Bangladesh Betar Regional Station, Rangpur has broadcasted key emergency messages focusing on women and children. The message has been developed with support from BBC Media Action and approved by the Government of Bangladesh. UNICEF is working with the cross-sectoral Communicating with Communities (CwC) – Multi Stakeholder Platform (CwC-MSP). The CwC-MSP platform has communicated with community radio stations, member agencies and reviewed news as well as articles to compile community voice regarding the recent flood. As a result, community radio stations, Radio Chilmari and Radio Sharabela have aired different programme on emergency preparedness and response. UNICEF Bogra Office has prepositioned booklets on disaster and emergency based on facts for life messages and disseminated them during communication sessions with affected population in Gaibandha, Kurigram and Bogra District.
Supply and Logistics
UNICEF is transferring 80 emergency psychosocial and recreational kits to 4 most affected districts which will benefit around 1,500 children.
UNICEF has distributed 413,027 pieces of Water Purification Tablets benefiting 51,625 people and hygiene kits to 9,925 people.
3 million Water Purification Tablets, 2,500 hygiene kits and 500 squatting plate are being procured.