Death and suffering in the current floods in Bangladesh and India would have been reduced if Western governments’ aid budgets had put more emphasis on protecting vulnerable communities and preparing people to save their own lives, says Christian relief and development agency Tearfund.
More than 1000 people have died and approximately 50 million remain stranded or homeless across large areas of North India, Bangladesh and Nepal following what many describe as the worst floods in decades.
Tearfund believes that as well as life-saving emergency responses such as rescuing people from rooftops, providing emergency food, water and sanitation, western governments should make better use of aid by focusing less on ‘bandaging wounds’ and more on preventing disaster.
‘There was a time when we did not know where disasters would strike. But today we know which countries are most disaster-prone. Flooding in Bangladesh and India is hardly a surprise,’ says Marcus Oxley Tearfund Disaster Management Director. ‘Floods in South Asia are a yearly enemy – killing hundreds, displacing millions and forcing entire populations to live like refugees during the monsoon months. In the UK and Europe we spend vast sums on reducing the risks we face from disasters like floods, yet very little is spent on helping poor communities to do the same.’
Sarah La Trobe, Tearfund Policy Officer for the Environment and Disasters, says that Britain and other western nations must adopt new thinking about how we do aid work. Focusing primarily on emergency responses like air drops of food is no longer enough. People can be equipped to save their own lives. ‘It is indefensible and illogical not to help poor communities prevent and prepare for disasters when very often, thousands of lives could be saved by even the simplest of measures,’ she says.
Many lives were saved in recent weeks in Bihar India’s poorest state because Tearfund partner The Discipleship Centre (DC) has been working with local villagers to prepare them for the floods - by ensuring early warning systems are in place, raising embankments, buying boats and ensuring volunteers are trained to rescue villagers, organise shelter camps and administer first aid.
Other examples of simple and inexpensive measures that can save lives include:
- Cyclone shelters and early warning systems, which in the Bay of Bengal are protecting communities from major cyclones
- In Honduras Tearfund partners are helping poor communities vulnerable to flooding relocate homes to higher ground, build specially-designed swing bridges and plant trees to prevent mudslides
Natural disasters like the recent floods across South Asia are on the increase. This is due to factors such as climate change, rapid urbanisation, poor land use and environmental destruction. With disasters increasing in number, long-term development in poor countries is being seriously threatened.
Recent research carried out by Tearfund among major donors, including the United Nations, the European Union and the governments of Britain, the United States and Canada, shows that there is general agreement that preventing disasters makes economic and moral sense. But governments’ approaches are still weighted towards ‘bandaging wounds’ rather than ‘preventing injuries’.
‘There is now an urgent moral and financial imperative for governments and financial institutions to adopt new thinking and action about aid budgets and programmes,’ says Sarah La Trobe, who conducted the research. ‘Money and expertise must be urgently directed into reducing the risks of disasters in places like India and Bangladesh in order to help the world’s most vulnerable communities safeguard their lives and their way out of poverty.'
Meanwhile, in Bihar in India, Tearfund partner The Discipleship Centre (DC) has been working with local villagers to prepare them for the floods by ensuring early warning systems are in place, raising embankments, buying boats and ensuring volunteers are trained to rescue villagers, organise shelter camps and administer first aid. Due to these measures, many lives were saved during the current floods, which affected 21 million people and destroyed 500,000 homes across Bihar.
DC is now providing immediate relief by distributing food, shelter materials such as plastic sheeting and, through Tearfund partner the Emmanuel Hospital Association (EHA), providing medical assistance to an estimated 5,000 families in 20 of the worst-affected villages. DC has also set up eight community kitchens, which feed 12,000 people per day.
EFICOR, another longstanding Tearfund partner, is providing food, plastic sheets, hygiene kits, water purification tablets and medical assistance through EHA to 10,000 families in Bihar’s three worst-hit districts.
In the north-east Indian state of Assam, where floods have affected an estimated 11 million people and damaged more than 100,000 homes, Tearfund’s partner NEICORD is helping around 3000 families move to safer ground and providing food and safe drinking water.
More than two-thirds of Bangladesh is flooded and 40 percent of the Bangladeshi capital Dhaka is under water. In many places, the sewage system has failed, sending human waste flowing into the streets. Tearfund partner HEED is providing emergency relief to 12,000 families whilst Tearfund partner Koinonia is working with local partners, providing 2,000 families with food and rehydration supplies.