UNISDR Chief on Governance and Efficiency of Disaster Management System in Bangladesh

“I think Bangladesh has a very strong structure. One thing that struck me is inter-ministerial coordination, which is very strong. It is not in every country that ministers sit together and collaborate. This is very positive thing. Disaster management council is there, but at central level. The system, however, is tested at local level. The issue is what capacity and resources local governments have and how it works during crisis at the centre and the periphery. That part of the system often needs a long time to build. But, in Bangladesh, you started building your preparedness and response capacity from local level. That is a very strong base in itself. But no doubt there will be situations that can outstrip the capacity of the local level, because the tradition here in Bangladesh is to work with community-based preparedness. That has also made you very strong in the face of serious challenges posed by disasters.”

(More details of Margareta Wahlstrom’s interview with The Daily Star, on 24 April 2012)