Strengthening climate resilience to ensure water supply to vulnerable communities in Bangladesh
When Runa’s life was upended by floods, UNICEF mobilized emergency supplies to meet her and her children’s immediate needs and strengthened her village’s water services to endure future climate disasters.
Israt reaches for her mother Runa’s hand passing down the UNICEF blue pitcher filled with fresh drinking water. Five-year-old Israt is a little taller than the raised platform of the tubewell near their house, in Feni District, Bangladesh. The tubewell was constructed with UNICEF’s support at one-meter height to prevent submersion during floods and water contamination.
In August 2024, when the worst floods in three decades lashed through eastern Bangladesh, both of the community’s tubewells – shared by 200 people – were destroyed, as was Runa’s family’s latrine.
These shallow tubewells were already vulnerable to contamination from nearby pit latrines and arsenic in the soil. The flood made things worse, submerging the wells and turning already unsafe water into a serious health hazard. In these conditions, diarrhoea, cholera and skin diseases found the perfect environment to thrive.
Climate resilience
As the floodwaters receded, UNICEF, in partnership with the Bangladesh’s Department of Public Health Engineering, began the critical task of recovery. In hard-hit areas such as Feni, Noakhali, Cumilla, Lakshmipur and Khagrachagri, efforts focused on disinfecting water points, repairing and elevating damaged latrines, restoring piped water networks, and constructing new tubewells with raised platforms to guard against future flooding.
“The newly installed [tubewell] brings more quality water. It is closer to me, so I prefer to go to that one. It is a good decision to build it at a higher level so that it won’t get flooded by floodwater.”
Unlike older shallow wells, the new tubewell near Runa’s home was drilled deeper to tap into safer, uncontaminated water. She now uses it daily for cooking and drinking without fear of water pollution. With partners, UNICEF has applied the same approach to constructing other climate-resilient tubewells in the flood-affected area to ensure long-term access to safe water for vulnerable families.
“Our response isn’t just about immediate recovery. It’s about helping communities become more resilient to future disasters,” adds Saleha Khatun, UNICEF Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Officer.
‘I thought I wouldn´t survive’
When the floods lashed through eastern Bangladesh, with Feni district at the epicentre, Runa’s village was not ready. “Even my grandparents didn’t experience such floods,” shares Runa as she remembers how the water came up to her chin.
For Runa and her community, a flood of such intensity, such devastation, was unlike anything they had ever experienced. Runa remembers the fear, the hunger, the soggy chaos. The rain fell relentlessly for days, turning fields of tended crops into wastelands.
“There was nothing to eat. Forget about the animals, we human beings were trying to get food. “I thought I wouldn´t survive with my two children and that I would never return [from the shelter].”
Families huddled in overcrowded shelters, packed so tightly that there was barely room to lie down. Her father-in-law, a cancer patient, became sicker and passed away three months after the floods.
In her early 20s, Runa is also mother of one-year-old Nusrat. When the floodwaters came, both Nusrat and Israt fell ill with coughs, colds and rashes on their skin. Their village, like so many others, was overwhelmed. Water tore through homes, schools, and entire communities, disrupting the lives of more than two million children across the region.
The first line of defence
UNICEF was on the ground since day one to assess the situation and deliver urgent support. Water purification tablets, jerry-cans, water, and sanitation and hygiene kits filled with other essential items were distributed to families in need.
“With pre-positioned life-saving supplies at strategic government-owned locations throughout the country, UNICEF was able to deliver emergency kits within 72 hours of the disaster onset to help children survive and ensure the dignity of the most vulnerable, especially women and girls,” emphasizes Saleha Khatun.
The WASH (water, sanitation and hygiene) and dignity kit – designed for a family of five – is a vital, life-saving part of UNICEF’s emergency response, helping to meet the basic needs of children and their families during crises like this.
Runas’s house was filled with mud and sand, so she would use the sandals she received to walk around, the soap and laundry detergent for washing hands and clothes, the diapers for Nusrat, and the potty for Israt.
“[In the kit] there were two pairs of sandals, diapers, soap, jug, mug, potty, nail cutter, towel and some clothes. All the items were really, really helpful,” remembers Runa.
This story was originally published on UNICEF Bangladesh.
