Bangladesh faces escalating climate disasters that create cascading health emergencies requiring coordinated responses across multiple sectors. Since 2018, A-PAD Bangladesh has pioneered a multi-sectoral coordination model that transforms disaster response into comprehensive climate-health resilience building, highlighting the critical role of preparedness in protecting health during climate emergencies.
A Proven Model Under Emergency
A-PAD Bangladesh’s coordination network spans 61 partner organisations—government agencies, NGOs, private sector partners, and international organisations—united by shared protocols and operational frameworks. This approach proved its effectiveness during the devastating climate events of 2024.
When Cyclone Remal struck in May, followed by severe flooding in August and September, pre-established coordination mechanisms enabled rapid deployment of integrated health interventions reaching over 90,000 people despite widespread infrastructure damage.
Working through Emergency Disaster Management Coordination Centers, teams delivered targeted health responses: oral rehydration solutions to prevent waterborne diseases, emergency medical care for trauma and chronic conditions, and food security interventions to prevent malnutrition. This multi-layered approach recognised that climate disasters create complex health emergencies requiring simultaneous medical, nutritional, and preventive interventions.
The response succeeded because of strong commitment to emergency preparedness during non-emergency periods. A-PAD Bangladesh’s 61 memorandum of understanding created frameworks for rapid resource mobilisation, while regular coordination meetings and joint training ensured diverse partners could work together effectively under pressure.
Building Resilience at Community Level
Beyond emergency response, A-PAD Bangladesh has embedded trained health workers across the country’s eight divisions who conduct regular home visits, provide health education, and serve as early warning communicators. This programme has directly benefited more than 30,000 individuals during 2024, creating health knowledge and preparedness that activates immediately when disasters strike.
These health workers serve multiple functions addressing the climate-health nexus: routine health education about climate impacts on health outcomes, health surveillance for early detection of climate-sensitive diseases, and baseline health services that reduce vulnerabilities before disasters strike. During emergencies, these workers become crucial coordinators who rapidly assess needs, deliver interventions, and connect communities with broader response networks.
Women as Pillars of Community Resilience
A-PAD Bangladesh’s women-focused disaster risk reduction training recognises that women often serve as primary caregivers and health decision-makers in Bangladeshi families, yet face heightened vulnerabilities during climate disasters. In rural communities, women frequently lack access to early warning information and evacuation resources, while bearing responsibility for protecting children and elderly family members during emergencies.
The organisation has trained women across eight districts, integrating first aid techniques, evacuation procedures, and child rescue skills during water-related emergencies. Supported by Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the training utilised scenario-based simulations and evacuation drills tailored to local risks.
This gender-sensitive approach creates multiplier effects throughout communities. Trained women become health and safety advocates within their families and neighborhoods, sharing knowledge about climate-health risks while building informal support networks that activate during disasters. Their leadership strengthens entire communities’ climate-health resilience, particularly for the most vulnerable populations.
Preparedness in Action
A-PAD Bangladesh’s experience shows that preparing for emergencies isn’t optional—it’s essential. The platform’s ability to reach 90,000 people during 2024’s disasters stemmed from years of relationship-building and system development during peaceful periods.
Particularly, community-embedded health workers play a crucial role in emergency response. In Bagerhat, health worker Md. Nabi Hossain’s regular visits to check on diabetic and elderly patients proved invaluable when flooding struck. Because families already knew and trusted him from routine care visits, and because he had educated them about hygiene practices, residents followed basic sanitation protocols even amid floodwaters. When water levels rose rapidly, Nabi coordinated with trained volunteers to conduct door-to-door evacuations, safely relocating 37 vulnerable individuals using rescue boats—preventing casualties during peak flooding. This demonstrates how a single health worker’s peacetime relationships can translate into life-saving coordination during emergencies.
Call to Action
A-PAD Bangladesh demonstrates that multi-sectoral coordination transforms fragmented emergency response into comprehensive climate adaptation infrastructure. As climate change reshapes disaster patterns across Asia, this coordination model provides a proven framework for protecting vulnerable populations while building long-term resilience to climate-health challenges.
By bridging traditional sector boundaries and aligning institutions, we can protect vulnerable populations while strengthening systems that respond to both immediate crises and future climate-health challenges. This is a moment to act: coordinated preparedness isn’t just effective—it’s livesaving.
