Abstract
Not only in Bangladesh, but also in many countries, disasters have ever caused tremendous damage and impacts on various aspects. To tackle these challenges, full commitment and involvement of all actors including the private sector is strongly required. Private sector involvement can be also seen in Bangladesh, but its extent in DRR is extremely limited.
A rainwater harvesting project implemented by Concern Worldwide and Gazi Tank Company in Bangladesh is a successful DRR business model that can contribute to strengthening community resilience to natural disasters and to business investment. This project worked effectively to develop disaster resilience in rural communities by providing a cyclone-resistant house, safe and clean water as well as livelihood through vegetable cultivation. Precisely, these results and achievements contributed to the capacity development in the fields of DRR (cyclone risk reduction), health (reducing risks of diarrhea by clean water), safety and security (avoiding for women to go for a long walk for getting drawing water), food security (harvesting vegetable) and sustainable livelihood (obtaining cash income by selling vegetable). At the same time, the investment made by GTC can be returned in 3 years based on the cash income generated from vegetable cultivation. From this model, three key messages can be highlighted: (1) the collaboration with NGOs, governments and the private sector can develop an innovative project to contribute to community resilience as well as business investment, (2) it is possible for a DRR project to be able to make returns for both NGOs in creating community resilience and the private sector in increasing their branding and market, (3) the involvement of local offices of the private sector is crucial to identify actual problems and challenges on the ground level and to suggest effective model and tools for development. In addition, a disaster can be a window of opportunity for the private sector to expand their business opportunity and market.
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Acknowledgement
Sincere appreciation goes to the Dhaka Office and the Khulna Office of Concern Worldwide as well as the Gadzi Tank Company for their sharing insights and experiences. Special thanks to the Khulna Office by arranging a field trip and meeting with beneficiaries at their project site.
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Izumi, T., Shaw, R., Dash, S. (2015). Experience of Bangladesh: Focus on Innovative Models of Private Sector Engagement in Risk Reduction. In: Izumi, T., Shaw, R. (eds) Disaster Management and Private Sectors. Disaster Risk Reduction. Springer, Tokyo. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-4-431-55414-1_15
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-4-431-55414-1_15
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