Understanding the Impact of Climate Change on Poor and Vulnerable Char People

Concern Worldwide, Trickle Up

ABSTRACT

Often considered to be one of the most vulnerable countries to the climate change, Bangladesh faces threat to its natural resources, livelihood security and general wellbeing of the people owing to its topography and geographic position. Moreover, vulnerability increases because of the challenges the country faces in adapting to the changing climate and in mitigating the responsible climatic factors. Some regions of the country, such as Char, are more vulnerable to the changing climate than the other parts. Therefore, giving due attention to such areas becomes a mandate for the development partners working along with the governments. To address the livelihood vulnerabilities of the extreme poor population of the Char areas in Kurigram district, Concern Worldwide implemented the project named “Empowering Women and Youth through Graduation and Financial Inclusion (EWYGFI)” in two Upazilas (sub-district)—Kurigram Sadar and Ulipur. The field operation was implemented by Rangpur Dinajpur Rural Service (RDRS), while Trickle Up supported the project to channelize the funding from MetLife Foundation with their technical assistance in implementation. While implementing, the project perceived the necessity to understand the climate change-induced impacts on program participants in the project implementation area. Consequently, this study titled “Understanding the impact of climate change on poor and vulnerable Char people” was commissioned to DM WATCH. The purpose of the study was to identify specific climate-induced impacts affecting poor and vulnerable people living in the Char regions of Bangladesh and make recommendation on how future programming could better help people mitigate or manage climate-induced risk.