COVID-19 response and recovery operations in Bangladesh: Evaluation of activities funded by the Disasters Emergency Committee

The Covid-19 pandemic has been one of the most significant shocks to global society in recent history. Two years on from when it was first identified, a great many peoples’ lives and their livelihoods are still affected. The impact of the pandemic is being most strongly experienced by people who have been impacted by conflict, forced displacement, food insecurity and natural disasters. In response, the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement’s focus remains on supporting communities to reduce transmission of Covid-19 and save lives, while helping some of the most vulnerable people cope with the pandemic’s wide-ranging impacts.

The British Red Cross (BRC) received funding from the UK’s Disasters Emergency Committee’s (DEC’s) Covid-19 Appeal from August 2020 to January 2021 (Phase 1) and, again, from February 2021 to July 2022 (Phase 2), to support activities in five countries, of which one was Bangladesh, a country that has received more than 740,000 people fleeing unrest in neighbouring Myanmar since 2017.

The pandemic has disrupted the Bangladesh economy with a substantial negative impact on human lives and economic activities. A study conducted in 2020 by the Bangladesh Red Crescent Society (BDRCS) assessed the impact of Covid-19 on the lives and livelihoods of host communities in Teknaf Upazila, which revealed a sharp economic slump in each of the employment groups surveyed as a result of the shutdown declared by the government.

Funding from DEC has supported different components of the BDRCS’ Covid-19 response and recovery operations in Cox’s Bazar, as follows:

• the health component of the BDRCS Covid-19 Plan of Action, targeting guest communities in specific camps in Cox’s Bazar;
• a pre-existing BRC-BDRCS Resilience Programme in Teknaf Upazila, funding livelihoods, WASH and health interventions; and
• Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH)-related activities targeting guest communities in Camp 18, as part of a consortium between the Swedish Red Cross (SweRC), BDRCS and BRC.

As a standard condition of DEC funding, an evaluation showing how specific DEC funds (Phase 1 and Phase 2) were used is required by the end of Phase 2 of this particular appeal, July 2022.