The ‘National Urban Community Volunteer Database-2020’ has been finalized on Sunday (27 December) in a workshop organized by Save the Children in Bangladesh in the presence of officials of the Ministry of Disaster Management and Relief at the BIAM Foundation Auditorium in Dhaka.

The chief guest at the event, Md. Mohsin, Secretary, Ministry of Disaster Management and Relief said that through this database, it will be possible to store and use updated information of all urban community volunteers in the country. He said, “Although the responsibility of creating the Database is basically ours, Save the Children has cooperated in this regard.”

Article 3.4.1 of the Disaster Management Policy 2015 mentions the issue of ‘Inclusion of the National Disaster Volunteer Organization’ under Section 13 of the Disaster Management Act-2012 of the Urban Volunteers. Save the Children and its partner organizations are currently involved with a total of 1,200 urban community volunteers and are working to train new volunteers.

On the basis of Office Order No. 51.00.0000.321.38.020.17-305 of the Ministry of Disaster Management and Relief, a three-member committee including Mr. Satyabrata Saha (Additional Secretary), Ms. Shamima Haque (Additional Secretary) And Mr. Md. Mohsin (Additional Secretary) was formed for the purpose of preparing Urban Community Volunteer Management Guidelines and Database. Under their supervision and with the participation of representatives of various like-minded government and non-government organizations, the drafting of the Database- 2020 was completed with the technical assistance of Save the Children in Bangladesh.

Bandana Risal, Deputy Country Director of Save the Children in Bangladesh and special guest of the event, said, “The role of urban volunteers in disaster management is immense and to this end the Ministry of Disaster Management and Relief of the Government of Bangladesh has prepared ‘Urban Volunteer Management Guidelines 2019’. Hopefully, the database will be considered as an important step in institutionalizing urban volunteers and will play a significant role in strengthening the national disaster management system.”

Director General of Disaster Management Directorate Md. Atiqul Haque presided over the event. He said, “I sincerely thank Save the Children for this initiative. Hopefully, based on the feedback of the participants, the National Urban Community Volunteer Database 2020 will be handed over soon and the Ministry of Disaster Management and Relief will take over the overall responsibility of the database.”

Nazat Chowdhury, Senior Manager, Save the Children in Bangladesh, presented the technical aspects of the database and answered various technical questions from the participants. Kazi Tasmin Ara Ajmeri, Deputy Secretary, Ministry of Disaster Management and Relief hosted the event.