Moving towards a humanitarian-development response to the Rohingya refugee crisis Giorgi Gigauri is the Chief of IOM-UN Migration Agency’s mission in Bangladesh. This interview has been edited for clarity. What is IOM’s overall vision for on-going Rohingya crisis in Bangladesh? Our overall vision is basically two-fold. The first is the humanitarian phase. So, before we speak of midterm, longer term …

Sumbul Rizvi is the senior humanitarian coordinator assigned on behalf of the broader humanitarian community to coordinate the response to the Rohingya refugee crisis in Cox’s Bazar. The interview has been edited for clarity. The Joint Response Plan for the Rohingya refugee crisis was launched earlier this year, requiring USD 951 million to provide humanitarian aid to the Rohingya refugees …

Understanding Bangladesh’s most complex environmental and man-made problem Most filmmakers that come to document climate change in Bangladesh include a segment on salinity intrusion in southwest Bangladesh. While is salinity intrusion is predicted to be amplified by the sea level rise, there is in fact numerous other contributing factors. The first of which is tidal surges which occur in the …

Special report on 1.5c leaked A newly leaked draft from the International Panel on Climate Change — the “Special report on 1.5°C ” — highlights the difference between a rise of 1.5°C and 2°C of global warming above pre-industrial level. The leaked report meant for international climate policymakers is expected to be published later this year. The report emerges out …

A sociologist-to-be investigates salinity issues in Gabura After being called Piya enough times, I decided to pick up a copy of The Hungry Tide by Amitav Ghosh. Like Piya, the protagonist, I am an American of Bengali descent studying the Sundarbans. Unlike Piya, I am a proud Bengali speaker, though my accent betrays my bideshi roots. While reading, I was …

At the heart of the Paris Agreement lies mitigation — the seemingly insurmountable task of reducing global greenhouse gas emissions to curtail the consequences of climate change. According to various studies, 65% of greenhouse gas emissions comes from fossil fuels combustion, 24% from industrial activities among which up to 67% is estimated to come from management of materials activities. Since …

Understanding depression among women in disaster prone areas When it comes to a natural disaster, the loss of property and livelihood are ultimately monetary issues that can be overcome. But how do you deal with the trauma that often comes in response to experiencing such world altering events? Such impacts cannot be dealt with solely with money. While previous studies …

The impact of livelihood training for women looking to move After receiving livelihood training, women previously engaged in fishing and farming are now moving to Dhaka or abroad to look for work. While there is an increasing number of women migrating, the overall percentage is still low, even if salaries elsewhere are higher for women who have the skills training. …

Is it an opportunity to migrate from climate dystopia? Are we adapting with or for export-led commodities? In her 2018 journal article, “Threatening Dystopias: Development and Adaptation Regimes in Bangladesh”, Dr Kasia Paprocki, assistant professor in the Department of Geography and the Environment at the London School of Economics, tackles these questions based on her two years of fieldwork in …

What’s the difference between development and climate change adaptation projects? As the Green Climate Fund (GCF) attempts to ramp up its funding for adaptation projects, the UN fund continues to face a major challenge: how to differentiate a development project and a climate change adaptation project. Already two projects – one from Bangladesh and the other from Ethiopia – have …