Community-based Disaster Management and Its Salient Features: A Policy Approach to People-centred Risk Reduction in Bangladesh

Abstract

The discourse of disaster management has undergone significant change in recent years, shifting from relief and response to disaster risk reduction (DRR) and community-based management. Organisations and vulnerable countries engaged in DRR have moved from a reactive, top-down mode to proactive, community-focused disaster management. In this article, we focus on how national disaster management policy initiatives in Bangladesh are implementing community-based approaches at the local level and developing cross-scale partnerships to reduce disaster risk and vulnerability, thus enhancing community resilience to disasters. We relied chiefly on secondary data, employing content analysis for reviewing documents, which were supplemented by primary data from two coastal communities in Kalapara Upazila in Patuakhali District. Our findings revealed that to address the country’s vulnerabilities to natural disasters, the Government of Bangladesh has developed and implemented numerous national measures and policies over the years with the aim of strengthening community-focused risk reduction, decentralising disaster management, developing cross-scale partnerships and enhancing community resilience. Communities are working together to achieve an all-hazard management goal, accepting ownership to reduce vulnerability and actively participating in risk-reduction strategies at multiple levels. Community-based disaster preparedness activities are playing a critical role in developing their adaptive capacity and resilience to disasters. Further policy and research are required for a closer examination of the dynamics of community-based disaster management, the role of local-level institutions and community organisations in partnerships and resilience building for successful disaster management.