On July 19, 2012, the United Nations Women held their launching ceremony at Ruposhi Bangla Hotel in Dhaka City for their new project “Reducing Vulnerability of Women Affected by Climate Change through Viable Livelihood Options”. The project duration is three years and is being implemented in collaboration with the Bangladesh Centre for Advanced Studies (BCAS) and BRAC in 10 selected districts located in the coastal area, and flood and drought prone areas of Bangladesh. The Embassy of Norway has also taken great interest in this project and is providing financial support. The project aims to empower women in disaster prone areas so that they receive skills in enhancing their economic opportunities and improve their quality of life.

The speakers at the event were Dr. Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury, Honourable State Minister, Ministry of Women and Children Affairs as Chief Guest; H.E. Ragne Birte Lund, Ambassador of Norway to Bangladesh and Mr. Mesbah-Ul- Alam, Honourable Secretary, Ministry of Environment & Forests as Special Guests; Dr. Atiq Rahman, Executive Director of BCAS; and, A. H. M. Rezaul Kabir, Advisor, DECC Programme, BRAC as the Chair.

The launching ceremony included a short video documentary titled “Climate Change Affecting Bangladesh” which was presented by Dr. Atiq Rahman of BCAS. He mentioned that in this project the two implementing partners BCAS and BRAC will bring complementary value to the project since BCAS is playing a role in the delivery system of BRAC as well as BRAC is involved in the action research being conducted by BCAS. During the event, three representatives from BCAS, BRAC and UN Women outlined their separate activities within the project.

Dr. Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury expressed her great concerns on the issues of promoting women participation and gender equality and how women and children are affected in times of natural disasters. She also mentioned how the Ministry of Women and Children Affairs is involved in the Comprehensive Disaster Management Programme (CDMP), where women are taken into consideration to keep them safe by provision of women-friendly cyclone shelters in a disaster period. The Ministry of Women and Children Affairs also has several projects operating under the programme of Vulnerable Group Development for Ultra Poor (VGDUP). Dr. Chaudhury thanked the Norwegian government for giving their support and hoped that in the future there will be other similar opportunities for UN Women to work with the Bangladesh government. She ended her speech by saying that she also agreed with what H.E. Ragne Birte Lund had to say about Bangladesh having a lot to contribute in the international arena on this subject matter at hand.

As a Special Guest H.E Ragne Birte Lund, Ambassador of Norway to Bangladesh also spoke about promoting women participation and gender equality which is a propriety area for Norway and also Bangladesh. She expressed that Bangladesh is very vulnerable to the affects of environmental degradation and natural disasters such as cyclones and flooding, and that these climatic hazards are expected to rise with aggravated climate change. From her personal experience of visiting the local communities and affected places struck by natural disasters, she believes that there is so much to learn from women close to their home who are affected by such calamities. In this respect, the Norwegian embassy is happy to collaborate with the UN Women in supporting projects which relate to the vulnerability of women and climate change.

The event ended with questions and answers from the media representatives and interaction with a few women representatives from Shariatpur and Sunamganj districts.