ICLEI South Asia and the Municipal Association of Bangladesh (MAB) held an online inception meeting with officials from Bangladesh’s Nilphamari and Lalmonirhat municipalities on December 12, 2023, about the Climate and Development Knowledge Network (CDKN) Phase 3 programme’s background and scope of work.

ICLEI South Asia made a presentation on the CDKN programme, its expected outcomes, and the work to be carried out in the two above-mentioned municipalities. Priority action areas such as ecosystem-based adaptation, gender and social inclusion in urban resilience planning, locally-led adaptation for accessing climate finance, and urban heat, as well as the Climate Resilient City Action Plan methodology for developing climate-induced disaster risk reduction (DRR) action plans were highlighted. An overview of the DRR scorecard assessment (previously completed by MAB), which looked at the status and a comparison of Nilphamari and Lalmonirhat municipalities, was shared.

MAB spoke about its collaborative efforts with UNDRR, particularly on the Making Cities Resilient 2030 (MCR2030) campaign, and the journey towards DRR scorecard assessments in different municipalities of Bangladesh. Mr. Parimal Kumar Dev, CEO of MAB, discussed local water contamination caused by the washing of clothes, and the difficulties faced by women, and requested ICLEI South Asia to advocate water and gender inclusion in resilience planning.

Mr. Dewan Kamal Ahmed, President of MAB, and Mayor of Nilphamari, said that both Nilphamari and Lalmonirhat were vulnerable to heatwaves and cold waves, as well as thunder, lightning, and floods. Mr. Rezaul Karim Shawpan, Mayor of Lalmonirhat, emphasised the activities undertaken in response to catastrophic climate change impacts in his municipality. Both cities have asked for disaster management and urban resilience training sessions.

ICLEI South Asia, which is partnering with MAB, Nilphamari and Lalmonirhat in integrating the CDKN work with the MCR2030 projects, spoke of the importance of forming an internal core team, an external stakeholder list, and on holding stakeholder consultation workshops for prospective projects.