HAP initiatives in Concern Worldwide: A Case Study of Bangladesh (2008)

Cyclone Sidr, a category 4 cyclone, made land fall in the southern and central coastal belts of Bangladesh
on 15th November 2007. The cyclone affected 30 out of 64 districts mostly in the southern part of the
country. More than 3,400 people were killed, 55,000 people injured and over 2 million families were made
homeless. The financial cost of the disaster was estimated at $1.7 billion. The consequence of Sidr was
mainly felt through the destruction of housing and loss of livelihoods (including agriculture crop production,
assets such as fishing boats and nets, and other business).
A few national NGOs (including BRAC, Grameen Bank, ASA and Proshika) had been working in the affected
areas prior to the cyclone, mainly focused on microfinance and education, and a few had experience of
disaster management. Following the cyclone international and national NGOs launched relief operations in
the most-affected districts. Concern Worldwide Bangladesh was one of the international organizations that
extended their operations to offer relief support in the affected areas.
Concern provided support to Sidr-affected areas through three local Partners; SPEED Trust, SHANGRAM
and Dhaka Ahsania Mission. These three Partners had experience of implementing emergency response
and rehabilitation programmes in other parts of Bangladesh. Both SPEED Trust and SHANGRAM are based
in Sidr affected areas, and were already Partners of Concern Worldwide Bangladesh.
Concern provided financial and technical support to the Partners for implementing the emergency and
rehabilitation project. One Concern staff was appointed to each partner’s project to provide the technical
support for ensuring quality services.