DEC Coronavirus Appeal - Real Time Response Review - Bangladesh Country Report

In response to the global Covid-19 pandemic, the Disasters Emergency Committee – DEC - launched a coronavirus appeal on 14th July 2020. By the end of August, the campaign had raised over £11.3 matched by UK Aid to reach a total of £22.5 million. Unlike previous appeals the DEC coronavirus appeal was proactive. At the time of the selection, prioritising countries in anticipation of the humanitarian need from the Covid-19 pandemic was challenging. Based on the likely humanitarian impact a ‘no regrets’ approach was supported by DEC and its members.

Funds were used to adapt on-going health and non-health interventions or support new projects. In July 2020 the DEC allocated £13 million for Phase 1 of the response, covering the period from 14 June 2020 to 31 January 2021. A second allocation of £6 million was confirmed in November 2020 that could be used indifferently for phase 1 or phase 2 covering the period from 1 February to 31 January 2022. The Real-Time Response Review (RTRR) is part of DEC’s accountability policy. It is also motivated by the necessity to respond to the high demand for accountability among the British population who generously responded to DEC Coronavirus 2020 Appeal.

As the first step of a two-year learning process, the country level Real-Time Response Review (RTRR) supports real-time collective learning to draw key lessons to build on for the second phase of the response. The three main objectives of the country level RTRR are:

• Objective 1: Improve understanding of the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic on contexts, Member Charities, their partners and key stakeholders;
• Objective 2: Analyse adjustments that have already been made and that are still needed in humanitarian programming in each country and globally;
• Objective 3: Facilitate collective thinking between DEC Member Charities about lessons and innovative ideas with regard to responding to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The primary purpose of this exercise is to generate real-time learning, in particular for the DEC Member Charities before the start of phase 2 of the Appeal. A secondary purpose is to share lessons which might be profitable to all DEC Member Charities in similar global pandemic situations.