China teams up with UNDP, provides $4m to post-disaster recovery in Bangladesh

China is partnering with the United Nations Development Programme or UNDP for the first time to help the families worst affected by the recent flooding in northern Bangladesh, the UN agency has said.

The 2017 South-Asian monsoon floods inundated the northern floodplains of the country, leaving 320,000 people still in need of support to repair their homes and replace their belongings once the flood water receded, said a statement by the UNDP.

The Chinese government will provide $4 million to support recovery efforts for 13,910 families in Nilphamari, Lalmonirhat, Kurigram, Gaibandha, and Bogra districts, which is a part of it commerce ministry’s Disaster Recovery Support in South Asia.

UNDP Bangladesh, in collaboration with the Ministry of Disaster Management and Relief, will facilitate the process of providing emergency shelters and households items, to repair their housing and blankets for the upcoming winter months.

Additionally, UNDP is also partnering with UNFPA to ensure that 14,000 flood-affected women and girls receive health packages and 125 health workers receive the emergency health response kits to serve women and girls’ basic health needs.

“China has been increasingly supporting developing countries in humanitarian relief and recovery as well as advance the UN’s 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda. This partnership is a reflection of South-South Cooperation” said UNDP Country Director Sudipto Mukerjee saying.

“It is expected that after this first of its kind initiative, UNDP and Chinese Government will explore other areas of collaboration especially relating to disaster management and early recovery in Bangladesh,” he was quoted as saying in the statement.