Stakeholders urged Bangladesh to adopt an integrated disaster warning dissemination platform to improve coordination, reduce misinformation, and ensure faster, reliable climate hazard alerts reach vulnerable communities nationwide.
Climate and disaster experts in Bangladesh on Saturday called for an integrated early warning dissemination platform to improve coordination among agencies, cut duplication and speed up the delivery of disaster alerts during climate-related emergencies.
The call came at a roundtable on the Integrated Dissemination Platform (IDP), jointly organised by Save the Children and RIMES with support from European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations at a hotel in Dhaka.
Participants said the proposed platform could strengthen Bangladesh’s early warning value chain by allowing consistent, targeted and multi-channel dissemination of alerts for floods, cyclones, flash floods, heatwaves, landslides and other climate-induced hazards.
A major focus of the event was a technical presentation by RIMES on the Common Alerting Protocol (CAP), an internationally recognised XML-based digital standard aimed at unifying early warning systems.
According to the presentation, CAP allows authorised hazard alerts to be transformed into consistent messages and distributed simultaneously through multiple channels including SMS, voice calls, mobile applications, social media and sirens. Organisers said the system would help warnings reach vulnerable communities more quickly and effectively.
Nitai Chandra Dey Sarkar, director (MIM) at the Department of Disaster Management, said warnings delivered from multiple sources often create confusion among communities. He said an integrated system could reduce damage and losses by ensuring people receive clear and coordinated alerts.
Md. Manzur Rahman, executive engineer at the Flood Forecasting and Warning Centre under the Bangladesh Water Development Board, said integrated dissemination would help curb misinformation and miscommunication during disasters.
Razwanur Rahman, director general of the Department of Disaster Management, attended the event as chief guest. He said the Integrated Dissemination Platform would complement and strengthen the country’s existing dissemination system, although implementation would require strong inter-agency coordination and support from the highest levels of government.
“We are hopeful that IDP will help Bangladesh move closer to achieving the commitment of ‘Early Warning for All’,” he said.
The workshop brought together representatives from the Department of Disaster Management, the Flood Forecasting and Warning Centre, the Department of Agricultural Extension, international NGOs and telecom operators including Grameenphone to discuss gaps and fragmentation in the country’s disaster warning dissemination system.
Speakers said Bangladesh has made notable progress in disaster preparedness, impact-based forecasting and anticipatory action. However, they noted that warning dissemination still relies on multiple agency-specific systems that can lead to inconsistent messaging and delays in reaching communities.
They said the Integrated Dissemination Platform could link authorised hazard information providers, telecom operators, media outlets and local dissemination mechanisms through a common interoperable system, helping ensure timely and reliable warnings for people at risk.
