A race against floods in Bangladesh

Today, Bangladesh is on the frontline of what the new normal looks like for vulnerable communities affected by the consequences of the climate crisis.

As the Jamuna River began to swell during last year’s monsoon rains in Bangladesh, millions of people braced for disaster. But Jerin, Renu, Salma, Shaheda and thousands of other people avoided the worst through anticipatory action, building on Bangladesh's long experience in disaster preparedness and climate adaptation. This approach is revolutionizing the way we respond to crises, saving more lives and protecting dignity.

Here are their stories.

Salma Khatun: Keeping the family safe

Salma, 28, lives with her eight-year-old son, Meraj, in Sirajganj, a district prone to flooding during the monsoon season.

"Every year our area experiences severe flooding," she shared. 

2024 was no different. Her house flooded, the latrines were unusable, and Salma struggled to find safe drinking water and food. But this time, 24 hours before the floods hit, she received 5,000 taka (about US$40) from the World Food Programme (WFP), thanks to CERF’s anticipatory action funding, which allowed humanitarian partners to deliver cash assistance to vulnerable groups in communities at risk of monsoon floods.

“With this, we bought dry food, candles and firewood,” she explained. “We managed to cook and eat, which brought us relief during the crisis.”

The cash assistance also enabled Salma to raise her bed, and livestock pens above the floodwater, minimizing damage to her possessions.

Renu Bala: Cash as a lifeline

In the same district, 45-year-old Renu lives with her three children and husband in a house near the river. They had to evacuate to higher ground when the Jamuna River rose above the danger line and damaged their home. But they didn’t want to leave. 

“Life here is incredibly tough; people are without food and jobs,” Renu said. “I also lost some of my chickens; I only have a few left. The money I received from WFP was a lifeline.”

Renu and her husband used the cash transfer to buy rice, lentils and firewood. They also built a makeshift raft out of banana logs, allowing the family to travel between their home and safer areas. This simple but crucial support allowed Renu to protect her family, keep her children in school and plan for recovery.

Monsoon flooding in Bangladesh is a seasonal and highly predictable event exacerbated by climate change. But thanks to advances in weather forecasting and hydrology expertise in Bangladesh, it’s now possible to predict floods with accuracy. As a result, Governments and humanitarian partners now deal differently with such disasters. Instead of helping people after they’ve been hit by floods, they deliver assistance a few days before the floods arrive.

The country is pioneering anticipatory approaches with national, local authorities and humanitarian partners. In addition to early warnings and evacuation plans, vulnerable families, like Renu’s and Salma’s, receive cash to help them buy food or protect their belongings ahead of peak flooding. 

Floods also threaten water access, heightening the risk of waterborne diseases. Using the CERF fund, UNICEF collaborated with partners and local organizations to distribute essential supplies for safe, clean water to 120,000 people in five districts of Northern Bangladesh. These included water purification tablets, jerrycans, hygiene kits, and mobile water treatment plants. The agency also disseminated awareness messages on preventing diseases and promoting hygiene through announcements made by community facilitators on megaphones.

A game changer in anticipatory action

OCHA plays a key role in coordinating anticipatory action and managing the quick release of funds through the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF).

Within just 16 minutes of the early warning flood alert in Bangladesh, CERF released $6.2 million to humanitarian partners in Bangladesh. This was complemented by additional funding from humanitarian partners. In just five days, the UN, the Bangladesh Red Crescent Society and the Government reached 430,000 people with mobile cash transfers, water purification supplies, agricultural support and dignity kits. 

“The speed and reach ahead of the floods were nothing short of extraordinary,” said Daniel Pfister, an anticipatory action and financing expert with OCHA. “For me, this is efficient use of money to help people with what they need, when they need it, to face disaster.”

Jerin: A step towards dignity

For Jerin, a young girl from Jamalpur, the floods brought physical hardship but also challenges to personal hygiene and dignity, especially during her menstruation. 

Many women and girls in her community can't afford sanitary pads, and they use pieces of cloth instead. But the floods made it difficult to access clean water and maintain personal hygiene.

With CERF funding, the UN Population Fund distributed soap, washing powder and sanitary pads.

Jerin explained: “These items help us stay clean and healthy. We can’t use or dry our clothes due to the flood, so the sanitary pads are especially helpful now.”

Shaheda Begum: Protecting livelihoods

For Shaheda, a cattle farmer in Gaibandha District, the floods posed a threat to her home and her livelihood. Shaheda prioritized her cattle, knowing they were key to her family’s survival.

She explained: “It’s harder for cows to survive than men, and it’s more difficult to manage food for cows than for ourselves.”

With CERF funding, Shaheda received 50 kg of cattle feed and a waterproof silo drum from the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) to protect food and cattle feed from the rising water.

“If I give this food to my cows, they will be healthy and I can sell them at a higher price,” she said.

During the July floods, 300 families sheltered on an embankment with their cattle for 20–30 days, surviving on dry food. Initially, the cattle lacked feed, but FAO's intervention had a major economic impact. The survival and health of their cattle enabled them to sell at better prices, safeguarding their livelihoods. This support ensured her cattle’s survival and secured her family’s future income.

Anticipatory action is cost-effective and life-saving but also a more dignified approach to help people address their needs.

“Assistance immediately before crises strike makes people so much more empowered. It allows them to plan their way through a disaster,” said Daniel Pfister, OCHA Senior Humanitarian Affairs Officer.

A model for the future

An impact evaluation of WFP’s cash intervention revealed that recipients of early assistance were better off emotionally and physically. They were more food secure and less likely to reduce the number of meals to cope with hardship.

Bangladesh’s anticipatory action framework is an example of a smart and sustainable response to the climate emergency. Jerin, Renu, Salma and Shaheda are living proof of the importance of acting early. Humanitarians hope to increase the use of anticipatory action to protect even more lives and livelihoods.

Pfister added, “Anticipatory action represents a powerful tool in the fight against climate crisis-related disasters, supporting adaptation. By investing in anticipatory action, we can protect vulnerable populations, reduce economic losses, and create a more resilient and proactive global community. It is also more cost-efficient, making precious resources go further.”

Over the course of a year, OCHA has almost doubled the number of anticipatory action frameworks it has developed, from 9 to eighteen, with more to be finalized shortly.

Between 2020 and the end of 2024, CERF mobilized a total of $224 million as pre-arranged funding for 22 anticipatory action frameworks in 20 countries and disbursed $109 million for anticipatory action activations. Our partners are increasingly co-investing in the same frameworks, which allow for faster, earlier, more predictable and higher quality funding being disbursed ahead of crises.

While vulnerable people are among the hardest hit by the consequences of climate change, they receive very little support ahead of disasters. Anticipatory action still represents less than 1 per cent of humanitarian response activities worldwide, even though at least 20 per cent of the humanitarian crises are predictable.

In response, OCHA has launched the Climate Action Account to raise money in advance for urgent life-saving relief and strengthening climate adaptation through innovative response mechanisms such as anticipatory action.

In 2024, Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, the United Kingdom and Norway are the top five donors to CERF, while Ireland and Denmark, longstanding top-supporters to CERF, were also the top two donors to the Climate Action Account.

This story was originally published on OCHA Exposure