Weather, flood forecast information stressed for sustainable development

Timely weather and flood forecast information is crucial for Bangladesh’s sustainable development.

The observation was made at a learning sharing workshop held at a city hotel recently.

USAID funded SHOUHARDO III programme, implemented by CARE Bangladesh, in association with Regional Integrated Multi-Hazard Early Warning System (RIMES), co-organised this workshop to share learnings and experiences from a recently phased-out project on early weather and flood advisories.

Md Mohsin, secretary of the Ministry of Disaster Management and Relief, attended the workshop as the chief guest. Engr Fazlur Rashid, director general, Bangladesh Water Development Board, and Ellen de Guzman, director, Office of Food, Disaster and Humanitarian Assistance (OFDA), USAID Bangladesh, were present as special guests, according to a statement.

Ramesh Singh, country director of CARE Bangladesh, presided over this event.

Among others, Marc Nosbach, chief of Party, SHOUHARDO III, Raihanul Haque Khan, country programme lead, RIMES, and other officials from USAID, SHOUHARDO III and RIMES were present.

In his presentation on key achievements and lessons from the 'Improved Weather and Flood Information System for Community Based Risk and Resource Management in Bangladesh' project, Raihanul Haque Khan listed operationalisation of long-lead (15-days) streamflow forecasting, Upazila weather forecasts through ‘Upazila Weather Portal’, Upazila-specific iconographic forecast products, and development of the Disaster Management Committee Portal as key achievements. He also mentioned, "Upazila-specific iconographic forecast products need to be scaled up across the country. The experimental 15 days' forecast proved to be very useful in detecting flood events 10–12 days ahead,”

During his speech as Special Guest, Engr. Fazlur Rashid, Director General, Bangladesh Water Development Board, mentioned, “Timely weather and flood forecast information is crucial for Bangladesh’s sustainable development. Bangladesh Water Development Board has been working towards effective forecast-based and early warning information in Bangladesh,” He also appreciated CARE Bangladesh’s interventions toward forecast-based and early preparedness information for the people of Bangladesh.

Special Guest Ellen de Guzman, director, OFDA, USAID Bangladesh stated, “USAID Bangladesh recognises the need to work towards preventing climate change and take preventive measures for disasters by building the resilience of the people in those areas.”

She appreciated the efforts of the Bangladesh government for making significant progress in terms of disaster preparedness and early warning over the past years as well as SHOUHARDO III and RIMES for the way the project supported the program participants.

While delivering his speech as the Chief Guest, Md Mohsin, secretary, the Ministry of Disaster Management and Relief, appreciated the community-driven forecast information dissemination of SHOUHARDO III and RIMES.

Ramesh Singh, country director, CARE Bangladesh, stated about the two pillars of disaster management as leveraging science and bringing community knowledge together and building infrastructure. He mentioned that this combination of two as soft and hard knowledge. He shared his gratitude for the joint forces of the partnership of USAID mission, CARE Bangladesh and RIMES in making disaster management possible for the poor.

SHOUHARDO III programme and RIMES jointly implemented 'Improved Weather and Flood Information System for Community Based Risk and Resource Management in Bangladesh' from July 2019 to September 2021. The project was implemented in 15 unions of 13 sub-districts under the eight SHOUHARDO III districts of char and haor regions, targeting over 10,000 people from the livelihood groups of agriculture and livestock.