Insight into Operations

The chars are sand islands in rivers, and are highly susceptible to flooding, especially during the summer monsoon season. A key component of the CLP package is the raising of homestead plinths above the highest known flood level. The CLP uses local labour to build mounds of earth above the flood level, onto which participants move their homes.

In July, Jamalpur and Kurigram districts were both subjected to a rapid rise in water level and flooding. CLP participants were safe on their plinths and were able to shelter their assets as well as neighbours above the flood line. The CLP raised plinths and the low-cost latrines were both a great success as they were able to withstand the flood.

For more information about the flood and the performance of plinths, low-cost latrines and tube wells, click here.

Findings from the Field

The CLP has completed a couple of important studies during the quarter.

An assessment of the CLP's impact upon food security, conducted using a new set of indicators, showed a significant improvement in food security amongst char households as a result of the CLP's support. A Brief outlining the new approach to measuring food security is available here.

At the same time, an assessment of the CLP's impact upon women's empowerment was also undertaken. Again a new approach was used based on the community's perceptions of empowerment. The study showed that the CLP has a substantial impact upon women's empowerment in the chars, as a result of women's increased knowledge and increased income. A Brief outlining the setting of participatory indicators is available here.

If you are interested in reading the reports for these studies, please send an email to info@clp-bangladesh.org. The reports will be published on the CLP's website during the next quarter.

Visitors to the Chars

The CLP received a number of visitors during this quarter.

• Advocate Jahangir Kabir Nanak, State Minister, Ministry of Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives, visited a village in Sirajgonj to see the CLP's impact. Read more about the Minister's visit here.
  
  
• A party of Danish MPs, civil servants and embassy staff, led by Steen Steensgaard Gade, MP and Chairman of the Danish Parliamentary Committee on Climate, Energy and Building, visited the CLP in September. Read more here.
  
  
• AHM Norman Khan, Executive Director of the Centre for Disability in Development and winner of the Ramon Magsaysay Award, visitied the CLP in July.
  
  
• DFID-Bangladesh Livelihoods Advisor Ariful Rahman and Amin Rahman also visited the CLP in July.
  
  
• Kurt Kooman, Head of the Project Management Unit at Maxwell Stamp PLC in London, visited the chars in August.
  

Meet our Households

Shahera joined the CLP in 2011. Her home was raised on a plinth above the highest known flood level. In July this year, floods affected Kurigram District, where Shahera lives. Not only did the plinth keep her safe, it also protected her and her neighbor's livestock. Three families and their livestock took refuge on Shahera's plinth, sheltering a total of 40 cows.

Read more about Shahera here, or watch a video about her here.

A Snapshot of Progress

As can be seen on the graph little implementation was planned during the first quarter of this financial year. The Livelihoods and Human Development Units will start their activities at the start of the next quarter. The graph also shows that key Infrastructure targets were not reached following delays in construction work due to the sudden rise in water levels in July and early September.
 
Click here to follow the CLP's progress in more detail.

CLP In The Media

A number of national and local newspapers reported on the CLP's activities in the quarter, especially around the July floods in Kurigram and Jamalpur district.

• National newspaper The Daily Star reported on the CLP's livestock and flood protection interventions.
  
  
• TV and print media reported on how the CLP's raised plinths protected char people during the July floods in Kurigram and Jamalpur.
  
  
• Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha, The New Nation and The Financial Express published articles on the CLP's approach to helping char people raise their livestock.
  
  
• A number of news outlets reported on the visit of the State Minister to the CLP in July.
  
  
• The News Today reported on the CLP's work on eradicating the practice of dowry payments.