Governance and society-driven challenges to community-based disaster management: A case study from Chandpur, Bangladesh

This study examines community-based disaster management (CBDM) capacity-building initiatives and implementation challenges in Chandpur Sadar Upazila, Bangladesh, an area recurrently exposed to floods, riverbank erosion, cyclones and other riverine hazards. The research reviews initiatives undertaken over approximately 2018–2023 and identifies governance- and society-driven constraints associated with them. Using a mixed-methods, stakeholder-informed design, the study combined a review of policy documents and literature with primary data collected through semi-structured interviews. 

The analysis identified six types of CBDM initiatives: social safety net assistance, volunteer team formation, disaster drills, awareness campaigns, training programmes and NGO participation incentives. Governance-related barriers included intermittent emphasis on CBDM, low budget allocation, missing trainee records, limited safety equipment and the absence of localised disaster-management plans. Social barriers included a preference for relief over training, stereotypes limiting women’s participation and weak socialisation of the CBDM concept. The study concludes that improving institutional capacity, budgets and community-level social change is essential for sustainable community resilience in Chandpur.