Teaching to the nth degree: Effective risk communication in Rohingya camps In Bangladesh
| Over the last three years, close to a million Rohingya community members have left Myanmar and settled in the hills in the outskirts of Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh. Among the many challenges facing the Rohingya settlers is the considerable risks from the torrential monsoons and massive tropical cyclones that beleaguer Bangladesh each year. In working with the Rohingya community, the team faced two significant challenges. First, how does one create a new disaster reduction programme and early warning system in a place where no institutions exist? The CPP and ARC will share their story of how this work entailed dealing with serious challenges around language and communication. Secondly, how does one encourage proactive risk-reducing action among a community that is in a foreign place and still reeling from the trauma of being forced to leave their homeland? BDPC and NYU will share their story of how the risk communication intervention evolved and, with an exercise involving participation of the audience, will illustrate how the risk communication workshops work. The design is called “Teaching to the nth” because participants train themselves to train others and, in so doing, allow knowledge to reach even the most secluded parts of the community. Lastly, the programme is placed within the larger context of the World Bank’s effort at cyclone preparedness in Bangladesh, which includes the building of thousands of multipurpose cyclone shelters all over the country. (See project website at https://environmental-communication.space). |
Organizer: New York University; Bangladesh Cyclone Preparedness Programme; Bangladesh Disaster Preparedness Centre; American Red Cross; World Bank