International methods presented to measure Disaster Impacts

Contacts:

In Dhaka:  Mehrin A. Mahbub  (880-2) 8159001; mmahbub@worldbank.org

 

 

DHAKA, November 20, 2008: Over 50 Government officials from various ministries and agencies involved in post disaster management work, staff from different donors agencies and NGO representatives  participated in a four-day training on Post Disaster Damage and Loss Assessment that ended today at the World Bank Office in Dhaka.   The training would help to increase Bangladesh’s disaster preparedness and response capacities.

 

Organized jointly by the World Bank, Global Facility on Disaster Risk Reduction (GFDRR) and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), the training is designed towards building national and local capacity by introducing participants to tools that can be used to measure the post-disaster impacts on the affected communities.

 

“Bangladesh is highly vulnerable to natural disasters and potentially could be among the worse affected countries due to climate change. In the past, natural disasters have caused huge devastation including loss of livelihoods and assets as well as of human life. It is therefore important for the country and those working on post-disaster rehabilitation to have an appropriate set of tools that can accurately assess the damages and losses incurred’, said Vinaya Swaroop, Acting Country Director, World Bank Bangladesh. ‘Such capacity building activities on disaster management will help Bangladesh to develop a cadre of disaster management professionals.’

 

The participants are expected to apply this knowledge in their day-to-day work, and contribute towards institutionalizing disaster risk reduction and recovery in the country’s disaster management system. The course covered practical aspects of data collection, processing and analyses in the field. The participants were trained on both the procedures for assessment in individual sectors and also on the linkages between different sectors as well as the overall macro economy.

 

Mr. Masud Siddiqui, Director General, Disaster Management Bureau, Government of Bangladesh, and Mr. Mohamed A. Toure, Operations Adviser, World Bank Office Dhaka distributed certificates among the participants at the concluding ceremony.

 

For more information on the World Bank in Bangladesh, please visit: http://www.worldbank.org/bd