Session Information
32 SES 16, Climate Change, Urban Migration, Development and Organisational Learning
Symposium
Contribution
Bangladesh, a developing nation, is significantly vulnerable to climate change as various climatic events (i.e. floods, cyclones, salinization and droughts) occur more frequently (Cannon & Mu¨ller-Mahn, 2010; Huq, Hugé, Boon, & Gain, 2015), thus obliging millions of rural Bangladeshis to migrate to urban areas in search for livelihoods and shelter (Jahan, 2012; Lazar, et al., 2015). GIZ, along with its project partners and beneficiaries, implemented the “Urban Management of Internal Migration Due to Climate Change” (UMIMCC) project from 2015 to 2017 in Khulna and Rajshahi City. I was invited as an independent researcher to bring an outsider’s perspective to the project activities and outcomes. I only interacted with the project stakeholders and beneficiaries in Khulna City and found the following elements that I suspect have made UMIMCC effective. Firstly, the quality of work by GIZ’s partner NGOs, UCEP and Caritas, has been very impressive. UCEP provided high quality skills training that have demand in the market, while slum infrastructures built by Caritas have been top-notch. Secondly, the UMIMCC project did not provide any cash benefits to trainees for attending training sessions and only enrolled trainees who were genuinely interested to learn a specific skill or trade. Then, in case of slum infrastructures development, the project ensured the participation of slum inhabitants from infrastructure planning phase to construction and completion phase. UMIMCC formed project implementation committees (PICs) from the slums who were responsible for making sure the usage of high quality construction materials, carrying out construction works and monitoring. Interestingly, the project was well supported by various government agencies, high level national and local government officials. Support from top level government officials flowed down the hierarchy and local level government offices exhibited social commitment and passion for the good of the people. In addition, UMIMCC worked with Community Development Cluster (CDC) members who ensured only genuinely interested trainees participate in the skills training and only those slums are selected where majority of the inhabitants are climate migrants. Finally, GIZ collaborated with competent NGOs, government agencies, and CDC members who earnestly wanted to bring positive changes in the lives of climate migrants of Khulna. To identify the above mentioned findings, I have used a qualitative approach and have produced ‘thick description’ of detailed accounts of practice (Geertz, 1988). Open-ended interviews were employed because they avoid objectifying participants (Fontana & Frey, 1994), and allow participants to express themselves more freely (Douglas, 1985).
References
Cannon, T., & Mu¨ller-Mahn, D. (2010). Vulnerability, resilience and development discourses in context of climate change. Natural Hazards, 55(3), 621-635. Douglas, J. (1985). Creative interviewing. Beverley Hills, CA: Sage Publications. Fontana, A., & Frey, J. (1994). Interviewing the art of science. In N. Denzin, & Y. S. Lincoln, Handbook of qualitative research (pp. 61–376). housand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications. Geertz, C. (1988). Works and lives: The anthropologist as author. Palo Alto, CA: Stanford University Press. Huq, N., Hugé, J., Boon, E., & Gain, A. (2015). Climate Change Impacts in Agricultural Communities in Rural Areas of Coastal Bangladesh: A Tale of Many Stories. Sustainability, 8437-8460. Jahan, M. (2012). Impact of rural urban migration on physical and social environment: The case of Dhaka city. International Journal of Development and Sustainability, 186-194. Lazar, A. N., Clarke, D., Adams, H., Akanda, A., Szabo, S., Nicholls, R., . . . Moslehuddin, A. (2015). Agricultural livelihoods in coastal Bangladesh under climate and environmental change – a model framework. Environmental Science Processes & Impacts, 1007–1192.
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