by RAEED ABD-ALLAH CHOWDHURY
June 22, 2021
A Friendship film about climate challenges and interventions in remote riverine areas of northern Bangladesh has won the film competition at the 15th annual International Conference on Community-based Adaptation to Climate Change (CBA15).
The conference brings together environmental adaptation practitioners, policy makers, and donors working at all levels and scales to discuss and disseminate ideas and actions towards a climate-resilient future. This year, over 400 people attended from almost 70 countries.
“Ground zero to climate adaptation: local climate fighters in Bangladesh bringing global solutions” is a 12-minute film that showcases Friendship’s work to support climate migrants living in the “shifting” sandbar islands on the Jamuna river in north Bengal, which are particularly vulnerable to flooding and erosion. The film highlights Friendship’s successes in this field since its inception 20 years ago.
These include interventions by the climate action team that put beneficiaries first, and where their needs are the defining narrative. The projects combine the generational, traditional knowledge from within the communities where it works with expertise and management from Friendship to come up with solutions that bring lasting and meaningful change.
The film, narrated by Friendship’s founder and executive director, Runa Khan, also showcases the courage and resilience of climate migrants. “If we and our international partners take steps in supporting them and learn from them, borrowing some of their courage,” she says, “the world will perhaps have more solidarity, more understanding, and we may find a new hope in our tomorrow.”
