Harnessing community capacity to respond to small scale disasters: Bangladesh pilot of an alternative funding mechanism

This paper outlines a pilot initiative conducted by Concern Worldwide in Bangladesh in 2016 and 2017, to establish community managed structures that raise cash funds in the pre-disaster period, and use these funds to provide immediate assistance to disaster affected people. This pilot fills the financial gap in disaster response in the immediate aftermath of small-scale disasters at the local level, which are often insufficiently and intermittently funded by national governments.

This paper provides several key learnings, including on capacity building within communities and on fundraising processes and transparency. It concludes by noting the need to further test the idea over a wider geographical area for at least three years to better assess the effectiveness of the concept.