Shelter where it's really needed
Illustration: Magdalena Michalka © Transparency International
In Bangladesh’s Barguna district, a large new building looms above the river, built to double as a school in calm weather and a community shelter during cyclones. But its rooms stand empty; no lessons take place. The fishing community it should serve lives on the opposite riverbank, and is unable to row across during storms.
Ignoring their needs, the government engineer responsible for building the shelter located it near his house, for his own convenience and to demonstrate his power – leaving local people angry and at risk.
Highly vulnerable to climate change, Bangladesh receives inadequate international grants for climate adaptation projects. But without local people’s input, even those funds can be misspent. Transparency International Bangladesh uncovered the cyclone shelter case while monitoring climate fund use.
We made a video to lobby local government, national policymakers and international donors for full community participation in climate response projects. Now, a shift is slowly taking place towards greater local involvement in deciding and monitoring the use of climate funds. With community participation, future cyclone shelters can be built where they are needed most.
See the video:
Climate funds and corruption in Bangladesh
In Bangladesh, climate change is already having drastic effects. A third of its surface area is just above sea-level. Now Transparency International is carefully monitoring the country’s use of international climate funds.
