Best practice

Context (archaeology)

Linguistics

Philosophy

Disaster risk reduction

Public relations

Government (linguistics)

Archaeology

Economics

Civil society

Special education

Business

Environmental planning

Mainstream

Politics

Geography

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Mainstreaming

Environmental science

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International community

International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction

Global indexes rank Bangladesh as the 5th most disaster-prone country in the world with immense loss of life and property. In this frightening narrative of death and damage, rural people are often the most vulnerable with limited access to infrastructure (e.g. information, governance, education, and clean water) leaving them unable to cope with the effects of a disaster. More than 2,500 registered Non-Government Organizations (NGOs) are delivering numerous community level programs in Bangladesh. However, a majority of these NGOs are non-Disaster Risk Reduction (non-DRR) in their core business lacking the expertise and resources to implement programs that directly impact DRR. This paper seeks to propose a practice issues for NGOs in Bangladesh looking to strengthen their community-based DRR mainstreaming initiatives. The researchers conducted a comprehensive review of published documents around the principles that guide international disaster risk reduction globally alongside a review of international best practices for NGO’s in mainstreaming disaster risk reduction. The findings of the study reveal a need for a multi-stakeholders’ involvement in line with global best practices aimed at reducing disaster risk. The International Decade for Disaster Risk Reduction (1990-1999), Hyogo Framework for Action (2005-2015), and Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction (2015–2030) emphasized the active involvement of all necessary parties from Non-government organizations (NGOs) to government agencies and community groups in coming together to achieve mainstream disaster risk reduction. Furthermore, NGOs have the opportunity to build up the communities more resilient by including DRR principles and practices within their regular relief and development programs.

International principles of disaster risk reduction informing NGOs strategies for community based DRR mainstreaming: The Bangladesh context