With its flat, low-lying topography and geographic location at the top of the Bay of Bengal, natural disasters in Bangladesh are common, and are increasing in frequency and intensity. Tropical cyclones, tornadoes, floods, coastal and riverbank erosion, droughts and landslides all affect communities living in Bangladesh, causing damage and loss of assets, livelihoods, and lives.
High levels of poverty, over-populated cities and reliance on climate-sensitive sectors for water and food security, particularly agriculture, fisheries and livestock, are exacerbating the impact and hampering attempts to address social problems and improve infrastructure.
18.7%
Of the population live below the poverty line
14.7%
Youth unemployment rate, dropping to 19.6% among women
7th
Most vulnerable country to climate change
60%
Of Bangladesh’s population are exposed to a high flood risk
13.3 Million
People could become internal migrants due to climate change
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With an estimated 13.3 million people expected to become internal migrants in Bangladesh by 2050 due to climate change, and just a one metre rise in sea level would result in 17.5 per cent of the country being flooded, Muslim Aid Bangladesh is focused on implementing Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) activities to support communities to withstand various shocks and stresses. Vulnerable communities in climate hotspots are being blindsided by cascading climate disasters without any means of prior alert. Muslim Aid Bangladesh is implementing projects that focus on strengthening communities’ capacity and resilience to disaster and climate risks through an inclusive approach, working with and for rights holders. Activities include renovating schools to be resilient against floods, conducting training on early warnings and early actions, organising behaviour campaigns on disaster preparedness, developing risk reduction action plans, conducting mock drills, developing community action plans, supporting climate smart agriculture and awareness raising sessions on coping and adaptation measures such as deforestation campaigns and tree plantations.
Muslim Aid Bangladesh’s overarching mission is to provide immediate and long-term support and build resilience among individuals affected by disaster crises. Over the years, Muslim Aid Bangladesh has responded to numerous emergencies providing relief and recovery support to affected people, both host communities and Rohingya refugees, in the form of multi-purpose cash grants, food and non-food items and educational supplies. Considering Bangladesh’s vulnerability to climate related disasters.
Muslim Aid Bangladesh’s humanitarian focuses are primarily to:
Muslim Aid Bangladesh is committed to extending efforts to provide assistance to targeted disaster risk districts and to scale up the results to reach those in need.
Since 1996, Muslim Aid Bangladesh has been delivering quality healthcare services to patients in three Muslim Aid Community Hospitals (MACHs) located in Kulaura, Pirojpur and Pabna. These hospitals support both in-patients and out-patients through the provision of ambulances, delivering antenatal and postnatal services including preforming caesarean deliveries, diagnostic services such as ECGs, USGs, and X-rays, performing routine operations, offering pharmacy services and vaccination programmes, providing satellite health camps, and organising school health campaigns. The MACHs have seen annual increases in beneficiary numbers, proving their acceptance among communities.
Muslim Aid Bangladesh has been implementing education projects for several years, transitioning to a Community-Based Model (CBM) in 2021. The CBM is a flexible and holistic strategy that adapts to the unique context of each community, allowing for relevant and sustainable interventions that address the underlying barriers to children accessing quality education. Soft components include enrolment campaigns, teacher training, awareness campaigns on the importance of education, and capacity-building programmes for key stakeholders. Meanwhile, hard components include renovating WASH blocks to ensure inclusion, reconstructing classrooms and distributing scholastic materials.
Since 1996, Muslim Aid Bangladesh has been delivering quality healthcare services to patients in three Muslim Aid Community Hospitals (MACHs) located in Kulaura, Pirojpur and Pabna. These hospitals support both in-patients and out-patients through the provision of ambulances, delivering antenatal and postnatal services including preforming caesarean deliveries, diagnostic services such as ECGs, USGs, and X-rays, performing routine operations, offering pharmacy services and vaccination programmes, providing satellite health camps, and organising school health campaigns. The MACHs have seen annual increases in beneficiary numbers, proving their acceptance among communities.
In future years, the MACHs plan to expand their services to further meet community demand, such as the inclusion of WASH, physiotherapy and nutritional support.
180,000
People reached across health care, livelihoods, education & emergency interventions
7,000
People provided new Livelihood Skills
3,000
Children supported to complete their academic year
4,000
Distributed school materials to children
27
Upgraded sanitation facilities
Almost one million Rohingya refugees live in Cox Bazar, most of whom fled persecution, widespread violence and human rights violations in Myanmar. The majority of Rohingya refugees arrived in 2017 and are living in cramped temporary shelters that forgo the dignity and privacy of girls and women, often leaving them fearing for their safety. Due to the level of demand, basic services in the camp are strained, leaving many Rohingya people entirely dependent on humanitarian aid. Much like the rest of Bangladesh, Cox’s Bazar is susceptible to natural disasters such as floods, cyclones, and landslides, which experts fear may become more intense and deadly because of climate change.
Over 5.2 million people have been affected and 20 lives have been taken by the recent flooding in Bangladesh. Muslim Aid is on the ground providing urgent help to those who are in desperate need.
We are a faith-based British international charity that provides help to people who are victims of natural disasters or conflict or suffering from poverty, hunger, disease, homelessness, injustice, deprivation or lack of skills and economic opportunities.