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A Framework for Climate-induced Multi-hazard Resilience Index in Conflict Contexts: Assessing Resilience of Rohingya Refugee-hosting communities in Bangladesh based on Secondary and Remote Sensing Data    
  • Sakib Imtiaz
Sakib Imtiaz

Corresponding Author:[email protected]

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Abstract

The present study aims to develop a framework for Multi-hazard Resilience Index for Refugee-hosting high-risk areas based on secondary and remote sensing data. The framework has been piloted in Bangladesh's 3 Rohingya refugee hosting sites, namely Raja Palong, Palong Khali, and Ratna Palong. This framework is an adaptation of the Climate Disaster Resilience Index (CDRI) model introduced by the International Environment and Disaster Management Laboratory of Kyoto University Graduate School of Global Environmental Studies in 2008. The new framework is mainly developed by identifying a list of indicators and variables following an extensive literature review. The study also incorporated the "Rapid Index of Stress to the Refugee Crisis," which is an adaptation of "Rapid Index of Stress to the Syrian Crisis" developed by UNDP.
Secondary data were collected from the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics, Community Risk Assessment reports, government documents, and Inter Sector Coordination Group (ISCG) survey reports. Satellite-based remote sensing data were collected from U.S. Geological Survey Archive. The framework has five dimensions of resilience: physical, social, economic, institutional, and natural, each of which includes several parameters. Weighted Mean Index (WMI) method is used to compute the resilience scores.
Considering overall resilience, Ratna Palong shows higher resilience than Palongkhali and Raja Palong. Regarding the natural dimension, Palong Khali scores highest (3.25), whereas Ratna Palong scores lowest (2.83). Palong Khali scores lowest (3.90) in the physical dimension. Ratna Palong shows a significantly higher score (3.31) than other communities. All the communities show good scores in the institutional dimension but comparatively lower scores in the social dimension. Increasing labor competition, deforestation, price increase, and damage to the physical and natural resources are challenges for host communities to build more resilient and safer communities. Policies for housing and land use planning, natural resources and ecosystem management, alternative livelihood opportunities, and budget allocation for implementing these policies are required to build community resilience during a protracted refugee crisis.
02 Jan 2023Submitted to ESS Open Archive
02 Jan 2023Published in ESS Open Archive