Bangladesh: Financing community resilience

ORGANISATION
Barokupot Ganochetona Foundation

LOCATION
Shyamnagar Upazila, Satkhira District, Bangladesh

Setting the context

The southwest coastal belt of Bangladesh, at the edge of the Sundarbans, is one of the most climate-vulnerable regions in the world. Here, frequent super cyclones such as Ayla, Amphan (2020) and Remal (2023) have repeatedly displaced thousands, eroded livelihoods, and deepened poverty. Marginalised groups – indigenous Munda communities, Dalit populations, religious minorities, displaced families, and women-headed households – remain at the frontline of these disasters, yet their access to financial resources for recovery is extremely limited.

Barokupot Ganochetona Foundation (BGF), a Dalit- and disability-women-led humanitarian organisation, has been working for nearly three decades in this fragile context. In 2023–24, with support from the NEAR Change Fund, BGF launched the Climate Adaptation and Recovery Project in five unions of Shyamnagar, aiming to address loss and damage through direct financial assistance and resilience-building measures.

The project: localised DRR finance

Under this initiative:

• 150 cyclone-affected families received BDT 15,000 each to repair their damaged houses, ensuring safer shelter before the next monsoon
• 60 smallholder farmers and fishers received BDT 30,000 in cash grants to restart their livelihoods, preventing long-term indebtedness and migration
• 2,000-litre water storage tanks were distributed among vulnerable families to secure safe drinking water, while ponds were re-excavated and embankments raised to protect community water sources
• 30 schools and cyclone shelters were revitalised with tree plantation and basic repairs, creating greener, safer, and more functional community hubs during disasters

At the same time, BGF partnered with the Bangladesh Red Crescent Society and the Shelter Cluster to strengthen early warning dissemination in three remote island unions (Padmapukur, Burigoalini, and Gabura). This joint effort increased community preparedness and reduced evacuation delays during cyclone warnings.

One story stands out: Sita Rani, a widowed Dalit woman from Burigoalini, lost her home and shrimp farm during Cyclone Remal. With BGF’s cash grant, she rebuilt her hut and purchased nets to restart small-scale fishing. Today, she not only sustains her two children but also contributes to the local women’s group advocating for better disaster financing at the union parishad level.

Impact in the community

This case illustrates how localised DRR finance – delivered quickly, transparently, and with community participation – can make the difference between prolonged suffering and early recovery. Instead of depending only on external relief, families gained agency to decide their own recovery priorities.

Key lessons

The key lessons we draw from this work are:

• Localised financing works best when it directly reaches marginalised households with flexibility and dignity
• Partnerships with local authorities and clusters increase accountability and ensure sustainability of disaster preparedness measures
• Investing in women-led grassroots organisations brings forward the voices of the most excluded groups and channels funds effectively to where they are needed most

Broader significance

BGF’s experience reaffirms the theme of IDDRR 2025: “Fund resilience, not disasters.” If donor communities, governments, and global financing mechanisms invest more systematically in pre-disaster resilience and locally led finance, then the devastating human and economic costs of cyclones, floods, and heatwaves can be significantly reduced.

As a frontline, women-led organisation, BGF is committed to amplifying community voices, documenting loss and damage, and advocating for climate justice at national and global platforms. Financing resilience is not charity – it is justice for those who contribute least to the climate crisis but suffer its most severe consequences.

This International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction, GNDR calls for governments, donors, the private sector and financial institutions to prioritise funding for resilience, not just funding for disasters when they strike.

All photos: IMF Photo/K M Asad