UN Division for Sustainable Development

Case Study Detail Record

Organization type:	Intergovernmental Organization

Name of Organization:	World Society for the Protection of Animals

Name of Focal Point:	Phillip Russell

Initiative Title:	Bangladesh Fresh Water Flood Relief: Animal Welfare in Disaster Management and Risk Reduction

Internet links:	http://www.wspa-international.org http://www.brac.net

Scope:	National: - Bangladesh

Status:	Completed

Timeframe:	Start: July 2007 End: August 2007

Lead Institution:	World Society for the Protection of Animals

Stakeholders/Partners:	Government of the People's Republic of Bangladesh (Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock), District and Village Councils, Bangladesh Police force, Bangladesh National Army, BRAC Agro and Salt Industry, Human Development Program (Local NGO Partner)

Relevent issues:	- Food security and sustainable agriculture - Enhancing agricultural productivity through adequate and sustainable inputs - Early warning systems for monitoring food supply and demand - Capacity building - Empowerment of local rural communities - Improved access to basic services and infrastructure in rural areas - Capacity building - Poverty eradication - Protecting and managing the natural resource base of economic, social development - Sustainable development in a globalizing world - Health and sustainable development

Objectives/Challenges:

WSPA Disaster Management teams across the world aim to provide relevant and immediate animal relief aid in disasters by:
• Creating a highly trained Disaster Management teams for rapid response,
• Working together with local and National governments,
• Researching and instigating pioneering risk reduction strategies with emphasis on regions, people and animals are greatest risk,
• Supporting member societies worldwide with emergency relief and preparedness.

In July/August of 2007 an exceptionally heavy monsoon season in Bangladesh created severe floods. The resultant impact was:
• One million people displaced from their homes onto roads and levees,
• Official state of emergency declared by the Bangladesh government
• Relief aid requested for people,
• No initial relief aid available for animals,
• Disruption of local animal feed and care mechanisms,
• Stockpiled animal feed ruined,
• Over one million livestock in urgent need of veterinary care and nutritionally adequate feed,
• Short and long term local livelihoods threatened.

The Disaster Assessment and Response Team (DART) team was lead by WSPA’s Disaster Management team and included local liaison officers provided by Bangladesh government and university veterinarians, Human Development Program, WSPA veterinarians and communications specialists. Objectives were to assess the situation: impacts on the environment, the animals, and the people who depend on animals for food, fibre, income, security, and companionship. Immediate and longer term concerns relating directly to the animals. The immediate needs identified were:
• Hunger - Emergency feed, and future fodder,
• Parasites - Emergency treatment.

Animal relief was recognized as a vital disaster response by the National and local government in order to minimize the floods’ impact on the health and livelihood of the local people. DART worked closely with local civic leaders, and the national police and army to coordinate and implement rapid relief response while maintaining security and reducing potential disorder and conflict over scarce resources. Local resources and knowledge were utilized in all aspects of the response. This is critical for reducing overhead expenses, reducing risks to response teams and local communities, identifying needs and services, and distribution of services.

The districts of Manikganj, Tangail, Siraganj, Bogra, and Faridpur were the greatest affected by the floods; in total 325 tons of feed was dispersed and thousands of animals treated with Anti - Parasite tablets. The collaborative effort were able to directly impact thousands of people and animals
• 54,000 cattle and goats were fed and kept alive,
• 50,000 cattle and goats were treated for parasites,
• 20,000 families livelihoods were supported,

While providing direct and immediate care to the animals affected by these floods, the short and long term effects suffered by the Bangladesh poor small farmers was greatly curtailed in the five districts worse affected.

Lessons Learned:

There were a number of lessons learned in the Bangladesh fresh water floods:
• Lack of WSPA animals welfare member societies in Bangladesh delayed on-the-ground care,
• Valuable time was spent building trust and securing governmental approval on all levels,
• Government veterinarians embedded in the DART significantly improved efficacy and efficiency of the assessment and field interventions,
• Due to the economies of scale, greater numbers of animals and people could have been reached with little additional management costs,
• Communication specialists were critical to raise awareness of services, the importance of seeking animal care, and they provided local officials with critical knowledge to better respond to this disaster and prepare for future disasters,
• Having a visible and consistent brand on the team clothes and relief aid (feed bags, vehicles, staging areas) improved relief effectiveness and efficiency, and also the media and marketing efforts at WSPA’s headquarter to secure more funding specifically for animal aid in Bangladesh,
• Working closely with a local humanitarian NGO partners to deploy aid to the field was absolutely essential; finding such affiliates on the ground is exceptionally important.

Policy Options:

Animal welfare should be a high priority in any disaster; in many instances animals are critical for peoples’ livelihoods. Animals provide people with food, fibre, shelter, income, and/or status. Often they are financial banks as well. Animals and their well-being are directly linked to issues associated with issues related to poverty, gender, indigenous people, and community, to name a few. Failure to take into account animals in any disaster planning or response will have short and long term consequences at individual, local, national, regional, and global levels. The cattle saved in the Bangladesh meant that poor, small farmers could regain their incomes, and rebuild their lives after having lost so much.

This disaster, like so many others including the Pakistan earthquake (2005), shows clearly many people are willing to forfeit their own safety to protect their animals.

The last couple of years has seen intense development in disaster management; both internally and globally. The importance of animals in disaster planning and response is being discussed at all political levels, from community meetings to the United Nation. WSPA is actively working with multiple stakeholders to protect people and animals, and mitigate the devastation of inevitable disasters. Animal welfare is critical for human welfare.

Summary:

Last year WSPA led and enabled the rescue and treatment of hundreds of thousands of animals in disaster-affected areas, giving communities hope and protecting their livelihoods by caring for their injured and suffering animals.

Once the immediate effects of disasters have passed WSPA works closely with our local partners and member societies to assist long term recovery by stopping the spread of disease, such as rabies, humanely curbing stray dog and cat populations, and extending the life span of working animals. To this end, WSPA is hoping to work with Bangladesh partners on a Risk Reduction Pilot Study that aims to protect animal feed against future floods.

One of the most exciting and pioneering parts of our global work is in risk reduction and partner preparedness;
• Focus is primarily on regions most vulnerable to wide spread devastation,
• In 2007 WSPA developed the concept of in-country University-based Emergency Response Units (ERUs) for rapid deployment, assessment, and response to the welfare needs of animals in disasters,
• Partner preparedness is continuing with the development of radio and television adverts used in the Caribbean region to further prepare people for the hurricane season,
• Pilot projects in Argentina (flood preparedness) and Costa Rica (embedding animals into civil defence emergency planning and support for a new ERU setup in the veterinary faculty of the San Jose University) have prove effective,
• Assessments have been completed in India and Bangladesh relating to flood security during flooding periods,
• Investigation has begun into the development of a drought protection pilot scheme in Africa.

While we have expanded our team globally to further enhance our capacity to provide animal relief in times of disaster, we appreciate that effective disaster preparedness and relief is not possible without local knowledge and resources.