Chittagong Division in southeast Bangladesh was hit by heavy rain in early August and more than 50,000 people have been temporarily evacuated. According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA), 1.2 million people have had their livelihoods affected.

 

Working with the Bangladesh government, A-PAD Bangladesh supported evacuation center management and distributed relief items. With local partner NGO, DCHT (Dhaka Community Hospital Trust), the team distributed ORS (oral rehydration salt tablets) and water purification tablets in disaster-stricken areas and carried out awareness-raising activities for affected communities at risk of landslides.

 

A team of resident volunteers who had attended a disaster risk reduction (DRR) training conducted by A-PAD Bangladesh in the past was also dispatched to provide emergency relief at shelters and other locations in the affected areas in cooperation with the government and local NGOs

The rainy season lasts until September in Bangladesh and there is concern that further rainfall in the region will cause additional damage. A-PAD Bangladesh will continue working side by side with vulnerable communities for better disaster preparedness.