SUPER – Strengthening Urban Public-Private Programming for Earthquake Resilience

Although the Bangladesh government has made progress towards strengthening public sector resilience to natural disasters, challenges remain in integrating the private sector into disaster risk management activities. In order to fill this gap, the SUPER project supports the identification of enhanced earthquake risk management (EQDRM) interventions already in place between government, NGOs, private sector and development actors to identify areas of collaboration, establish coordination protocols and mobilise private sector resources and expertise by promoting synergies for better preparedness and response to future disasters and crises.

Bangladesh is situated at the juncture of the three tectonic plates and the active interaction of these plates resulted in several major active faults in the country. Although the movement of these plates has historically been at a relatively low level, increased seismic activity increases the risk of earthquakes in the region. The risk and expected impact are exacerbated by rapid development and population growth. In cities like Dhaka, many buildings have been constructed in an unregulated manner for a long time without following the proper construction design and methods based on the National Building Code and with low quality material. Initial steps have been taken by the government to establish an earthquake preparedness and response structure and related policies. These efforts have generated key results, but it is critical and urgent that the private sector be incorporated into the EQDRM and incentivised to participate and invest in this critical phase of the country’s development.