Abstract:
Bangladesh is one of the most susceptible countries to climate change, while geographical and socioeconomic characteristics are accelerating the adverse condition. Following the increasing effects of climate change, it is crucial to focus on adaptation approaches to ensure sustainable adaptation practices with the participation of government and non-government organizations in Bangladesh. Since independence, Non-Government Organizations (NGOs) have been playing a significant role in various fields like empowerment, gender, climate change, disaster management, health, income generation, and awareness building in the development of Bangladesh. Over the last few decades, trained manpower and capacity have been built in Bangladesh by NGOs, which can be utilized to facilitate the adaptations. This study was conducted in the Southwest region of Bangladesh to understand how NGOs may act regarding climate change adaptation. An assessment of 28 national regulatory frameworks was done following content analysis and text-mining approaches to fulfill the objectives. An inventory of NGOs on different aspects like vision, mission, key focus areas, duration of work (years), number of working areas, programs, and manpower was prepared. An inventory of adaptation activities conducted by NGOs was also prepared. To understand the perception of experts from NGOs, a total of 15 NGOs were purposively selected based on their activities related to climate change in coastal Bangladesh, while a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) analysis was also carried out. Findings reveal that the cumulative number of key terms related to climate change adaptation from the perspective of NGO’s inclusiveness e.g. adaptation, advocacy, NGO/ Non-Government Organizations, climate change, emergency, resilience, collaboration, etc., has increased in the national-level regulatory frameworks between 1995 and 2022. This shows that the level of inclusiveness of NGOs regarding climate change adaptation has been increasing over time. Not all NGOs are working on climate change equally; they are attempting to incorporate climate change adaptation into their programs and projects in various sectors such as agriculture, empowerment of people, infrastructure, drinking water, disaster management, etc., but to different extents based on the funds, working areas, resources, etc. From the SWOT analysis, it is understood that engagement with the local community, skilled manpower, and rapport building between local people and NGOs due to working for a long time are major strengths of NGOs. Conversely, weaknesses include a lack of knowledge on proposal writing and sources of climate change adaptation funds. Increasing features of technology-based activities and expanding scopes to work on different issues incorporating climate change adaptation like youth engagement, increasing literacy rate, and awareness of communities are recognized as opportunities. Threats may emerge from donor-driven projects that overlook the concepts of NGOs and local communities, and changing economic conditions in the country may reduce the availability of funds for NGOs. Policymakers from the national to local levels may find the insights of this study useful to take necessary actions to ensure the sustainable involvement of NGOs in climate change adaptation-related activities.