Inter Sector Coordination Group (ISCG) and the government of Bangladesh, jointly organised a Stakeholder Workshop on ‘Cyclone and Monsoon Preparedness: Cox’s Bazar District and Camp Settlements’ ahead of the approaching cyclone and the monsoon season.

The two-day workshop was kicked off on 13 March 2019, at a hotel in Cox’s Bazar, supported by the  Bangladesh Red Crescent Society (BDRCS), American Red Cross, International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC)  and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) where relevant stakeholders from the government, UN Agencies and NGOs, INGOs took part.

In the opening session on day one, Ahmadul Haq, Cyclone Programme Preparedness (CPP) Director, highlighted the CPP volunteers and Coverage in Cox’s Bazar. “We have 6585 CPP volunteers ready, among which 990 in Teknaf, 375 in Ukhiya and 1180 in Cox’s Bazar,.” he mentioned in his keynote presentation.

Filip Papas, Senior Coordinator, ISCG, in his remarks said, “As the Rohingya camps settlements are very dense and built of extremely fragile materials, risk of landfall during and after cyclone landfall is still very high. Coordinated system for responding to the impact of the cyclone is essential.”

Md Rafiqul Islam Babu, Deputy Secretary General, Bangladesh Red Crescent Society (BDRCS), stressed the need for collaboration and cooperation among the organisations working in Cox’s Bazar for risk reduction.

The first day of the two-day workshop, focused on camp settlements level preparations in Cox’s Bazar, where among others Md Shamsuddoha, Deputy Secretary, RRRC, Lieutenant Colonel, Iftekhar Ahmed, were present along with 250 participants from the government, BDRCS, UN, NGOs and INGOs.

Second day focused on Disaster Risk Reduction in Cox’s Bazar, where the Senior Secretary of the Ministry of Disaster Management and Relief, Md Shah Kamal was present.