Satkhira is widely regarded as one of the hot spots for climate-induced disasters like cyclones, river erosion, and salinity intrusion. Embankments are often severely damaged or broken and local community is inundated. They lose their homes and livelihoods.
NRP-DWA subproject supported 56 women-led organizations in 10 Upazilas of 5 different districts including Satkhira. Prerona Nari Unnayan Sanggathan’ (Prerona) is one of them. This community-based women’s organization supports the community people on disaster preparedness and response. They also initiated different skill base trainings for them.
In 2020 Prerona took different initiatives to build their community more disaster resilience. They mobilized 250 women, including widows, women with disabilities, and women heads of households to make 42,500 masks and handed them over to Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) for distribution. Moreover, they helped 150 women and men to rush to cyclone shelters. They talked to the people, living in the cyclone shelters about the importance of wearing masks always and maintaining physical distancing.
Now, Prerona becomes more institutionalized and brings the unique advantage of being present at the intersection of gender equality, climate change, disaster risk reduction, and livelihoods. Prerona acting like a front-line’s activist in the battle against COVID-19, as well as Amphan, hit their community. They can play active roles in climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction.
Shampa Goswami and other team members of Prerona ( CSO) distributed food packets and masks at cyclone shelters in the
“When the first storm hit, I knew that this time around it would be a bigger challenge for the women in Satkhira. Between a pandemic and a disaster, we didn’t know what to worry about more. But the starting point in helping these communities is to engage women in the response and planning,” said Shampa Goswami, leader of ‘Prerona Nari Unnayan Sanggathan’ (Prerona), is a community-based women’s organization in the Satkhira district of Bangladesh
