Financial flow analysis for climate-related disasters in Bangladesh

This publication provides a background to funding flows entering Bangladesh to address climate-related disasters, an analysis of the funding gap, and an exploration of Start Fund Bangladesh (SFB) to gain a better understanding of its recent activities. The study was completed by compiling information on disaster risk management and analyzing the gathered evidence to achieve the objectives of the study. The information was collected majorly through a secondary literature review, with some primary analysis to obtain additional supporting evidence for understanding and interpreting data. The Financial Tracking Service of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) provided a major source of information for the study, acting as a consistent, reliable, and organized system providing collective information on international aid.

The study produced three main results. First, the background on funding flows shows that major disasters in Bangladesh that have been highlighted over the years include monsoon floods, riverbank erosion, cyclones, flash floods, and landslides. Of these, monsoon floods and cyclones received the majority of funding due to their widespread impact and increasing frequency over the years. All the mentioned disasters received support from institutional, pooled, private funding, with institutional donors providing almost 65% of the total fund. Civil society organizations, meaning NGOs, have received more than 60% of funding. The most popular sector-wide allocations have been directed for food security. Second, the funding gap analysis shows that three major disasters - monsoon floods with riverbank erosion, cyclones and storm surge, and landslides - have shown funding gaps of 39%, 44%, and 87% respectively. However, the funding gap has been seen to reduce over the years after the formation of the Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP). Third, the study's research into the SFB mechanism shows that in the last 4 years since its inception in 2017, the Start Fund has activated 29 crisis alerts and successfully addressed underfunded crises, spreading its response across 33 districts of the country. The SFB has also implemented 3 anticipatory responses through the prediction of upcoming disasters.