BD women to receive funding over climate change

KUALA LUMPUR: Thousands of women in Bangladesh will receive financing to develop livelihoods that can withstand the effects of climate change in one of the world’s hardest-hit countries, the United Nations said.

Women and girls in the disaster-prone coastal districts of Satkhira and Khulna will receive assistance from $33 million provided by the UN’s Green Climate Fund and Bangladesh’s Ministry of Women and Children’s Affairs.

"The rising sea level is a major threat to these areas," Mamunur Rashid, a climate change specialist at the UN Development Programme (UNDP), said by telephone from Dhaka on Monday. Much of Bangladesh is comprised of a low-lying river delta, making the country particularly vulnerable to storms that are increasing in frequency and intensity, as well as other effects of climate change like the salinisation of farmland.

Women will receive financing to develop livelihoods that are resilient to climate change, including growing vegetables hydroponically while using waste produced by farmed fish as fertiliser, Rashid said.

Funding will also be used to build community-managed rainwater harvesting systems to provide at least 130,000 people with clean drinking water, and it will be directed towards involving more women in flood and cyclone early warning systems.