The discussion titled Participatory Vulnerability Assessment was arranged by International Centre for Climate Change and Development (ICCCAD) and Independent University Bangladesh (IUB) at Spectra Convention Centre in Dhaka’s Gulshan 1 yesterday.
The discussion was the third plenary session on the second day of the three-day long First Annual National Conference on Urban Resilience organised by Asian Cities Climate Change Resilience Network (ACCCRN), ICCCAD and IUB.
Terry Cannon of the Institute of Development Studies, UK covered the topic of participatory vulnerability assessment where he challenged the term resilience in the current status quo.
“During a hazard local communities are directly impacted. The poor community mostly slum people cannot cope with disaster shocks and become more socio-economically vulnerable,” said Cannon.
Referring to risks of probable high scale earthquakes in Dhaka, he said the poor community will be affected both physically and socio-economically by such a disaster.
“Assessments of both physical and socio-economic vulnerabilities of the urban poor are early activities that are needed to develop the city resilience plan,” Cannon added.
The session was chaired by Mohammad Abdul Qayyum, director general of Bangladesh Rural Development Board, while Dr Dwijendra Lal Mallik, fellow of Bangladesh Centre for Advanced Studies, Sardar Shafiqul Alam, coordinator of ICCCAD-IUB was present.
The participants said the resilience planning of a specific area should be based on the existing vulnerability and capacity of the systems and community.
One of the key elements to a successful city resilience action planning is the participation from a diverse set of stakeholders, they added.
In the second phase of the day, Practical Action Bangladesh highlighted how untreated waste and improper use of resources can lead to high amount of waste generation and showed different practical treatments to tackle waste problem in the urban context.
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