crisis

January 5, 2023

3 key insights from Frugal Innovation Forum 2022

At Frugal Innovation Forum 2022, we revisited the fundamental pillars of development with the post-pandemic world in mind. We reflected on the lessons learnt from the pandemic and together identified three key thematic focus areas in our quest to build back better.
December 2, 2022

Navigating through crises in a disabling world

Every seventh person alive today – more than 1 billion people in total – lives with some form of disability. Yet, people with disabilities are still overwhelmingly overlooked in times of emergency.
August 25, 2022

Five years on: Looking back at the first 12 months of the Rohingya crisis

On 25 August 2017, hundreds of thousands of people from the Rohingya community fled persecution in Myanmar, and arrived in Bangladesh. Five years on, we recount the first days of the emergency response, and how the crisis unfolded into the most pressing humanitarian crisis of it's time. This blog post was written on 24 August, 2018, one year since the influx began.
March 22, 2022

An island in Bangladesh is facing a water crisis. This is how people are taking control.

Rising salinity has sparked a water crisis in Bangladesh’s coastal areas, where millions of people lack adequate access to clean water. Local water entrepreneurs in Moheshkhali are fighting back.
September 13, 2021

No alternative to community resilience against COVID-19: In conversation with Suzanne Mueller, Head of Cooperation/Deputy Head of Mission, Embassy of Switzerland in Bangladesh

The Community Fort for Resisting COVID-19 project is a protracted effort to contain the virus within communities in Bangladesh, by equipping 81 million people across 35 high-risk districts with the tools and knowledge to keep themselves and their families safe. The project is implemented by a coalition of organisations who work at the community level. BRAC sat down with one of the partners, the Embassy of Switzerland in Bangladesh:
September 7, 2021

COVID-19 in Bangladesh: Update from Asif Saleh (6 September 2021)

Bangladesh is emerging out of its worst wave of the pandemic. Daily infection rates have dropped below 10% for the third day in a row. Schools are set to re-open after the longest closure in the world, and BRAC is supporting the Government of Bangladesh’s push for mass vaccination. Read more from Asif Saleh, Executive Director of BRAC:
August 22, 2021

Building rural forts of resistance against COVID-19: What we are learning in Bangladesh

The Community Fort for Resisting COVID-19 project is a protracted effort to contain the virus within communities in Bangladesh, by equipping 81 million people across 35 high-risk districts with the tools and knowledge to keep themselves and their families safe. The project is implemented by a coalition of organisations who work at the community level. BRAC sat down with one of the partners, Manusher Jonno Foundation, to get an update on what they are learning:
August 19, 2021

‘Sisters of peace’: The women supporting mental health in Bangladesh’s Rohingya camps

The Rohingya population had to flee some of the worst forms of persecution when they left Myanmar in 2017. Since then, living in the world’s largest makeshift settlement situated at the edge of Bangladesh in Cox’s Bazar has meant facing new forms of challenges - floods, cyclones, landslides and fires - often adding to their losses and layers of trauma. Shantir apa (sisters of peace) are leading a quiet revolution within the Rohingya camps. To help families strengthen their capacities to cope, they are ensuring an empathetic space to decompress and manage mental distress.
August 19, 2021

A super cyclone, flooding and a pandemic: The year Bangladesh had three humanitarian crises at the same time

Germany and China experienced severe flooding this year, while Turkey, Australia and the US faced wildfires of catastrophic proportions. These events signify what looks to be our collective future. Alongside mitigation, we need to be looking for new ways of responding to a changing climate. Bangladesh, a country often referred to as the ground zero of climate change, has worked with communities to tackle disasters for half a century. What has it learnt? Build resilience at the community level.
August 2, 2021

COVID-19 in Bangladesh: Update from Asif Saleh (31 July 2021)

The Delta variant continues to ravage Bangladesh, with July having the most fatalities to COVID-19 to date. BRAC has launched a campaign to support families hit the hardest, and the Community Fort for Resisting COVID-19 project is running at full speed. In addition, we update you on rising cases and flooding in Cox’s Bazar, in both the Rohingya camps and host communities.
July 15, 2021

How do we build forts of resistance against COVID-19?

More than one year since the first COVID-19 case in Bangladesh, infection rates are reaching new records. The delta variant is spreading across the country. Despite the rampant spread of the infection in communities, there is still reluctance towards following healthcare guidelines.
July 13, 2021

COVID-19: Update from Asif Saleh (9 July 2021)

Bangladesh is being devastated by the delta variant. BRAC is building a fort of resistance within communities to combat the virus. We are racing against time and building the plane as we are flying. More from Asif Saleh, Executive Director, BRAC Bangladesh: