Community spaces, known locally as hatis, are elevated grounds scattered within Bangladesh’s haor wetland regions. With the support of the IKI Small Grants project ‘Climate-resilient Infrastructure for Sustainable Community Life in The Haor Region of Bangladesh’, several hatis will be equipped with protection walls and wave-breaker plantations. These climate-resilient infrastructures serve as protection for vulnerable communities.

This August, Ms. Sharifa Khan, Secretary of the Economic Relations Division (ERD), visited the Sunamganj Haor region to see adaptation measures to protect community spaces from flash flooding.

The ERD secretary requested Palli Karma-Sahayak Foundation (PKSF) implement the project immediately. She expressed her willingness to approach other development partners to upscale similar adaptation measures.

The ‘Improved Coordination of International Climate Finance’ project supported PKSF in developing the project proposal. PKSF received a grant of about one million euros from the IKI Small Grants Programme, envisioned to be upscaled to a project proposal for the Green Climate Fund (GCF) amounting to an estimated 50 million US-dollars.

The Khan’s visit underlines the potential of this project to advance much needed climate change adaptation measures locally. The experience won in this IKI Small Grants project can subsequently be applied on a broader scale.