A study on national DRR policy in alignment with the SFDRR: Identifying the scopes of improvement for Bangladesh

Sendai Framework sets four priority areas and 7 targets to meet in between 2015 and 2030 timeline. Of the seven Sendai Framework global targets, international attention has increasingly concentrated on the one with the most urgent deadline, target E. The target E stands for “substantially increase the number of countries with national and local disaster risk reduction strategies by 2020”. The reported status of the member states is not that satisfactory in the context of meeting the deadline. Moreover, the worldwide COVID-19 outbreak has slowed the progress of updating national DRR policy documents. This study has investigated the existing shortfalls in the foundational DRR policy instruments of Bangladesh and contributes in developing a framework of National DRR Strategy in line with the SFDRR guideline in order to meet the target E. In doing so, this study has critically reviewed the national DRR policies to find out the gaps in line with SFDRR considering the country context and also compared different aspects of national DRR strategy with a few developed and developing countries. In addition, the policy initiatives of Bangladesh Government tackling COVID-19 outbreak have been evaluated. This research is anchored with qualitative research focus. The method of the study is carried out by an extensive literature review and key informants' interview to get the perspective of relevant stakeholders.