The UN resident coordinator in Bangladesh Sunday met with the authorities, NGOs, and UN agencies' representatives in Sylhet to discuss the lessons learnt from some of the key projects of the Flash Flood Humanitarian Response Plan implemented following the devastating floods that hit the region in summer of last year.

In support of the government, the UN and NGO partners launched the Flash Flood Humanitarian Response Plan in July 2022 to provide lifesaving support to vulnerable communities in the five worst-hit districts.

Among the themes discussed at the meetings were the implementation of the risk information and early warning system, information management, food security and livelihoods, and the protection of vulnerable people.

The Humanitarian Response Plan aimed to mobilise efforts to tackle the consequences of the floods has been produced by the Humanitarian Coordination Task Team jointly headed by the UN resident coordinator and Ministry of Disaster Management and Relief Secretary Md Kamrul Hasan.

A total of $20.45 million have been provided for the essential needs of those affected by floods. And 468,408 people in five heavily impacted districts of Sunamganj, Netrokona, Sylhet, Habiganj, and Moulvibazar were reached, the UN said.

An estimated 7.2 million people have been affected by flooding and water congestion in the nine northeastern districts of Sylhet, Sunamganj, Moulvibazar, Habiganj, Netrakona, Kishoreganj, Brahmanbaria, Mymensingh, and Sherpur. 

The extent of the flooding surpassed any in previous decades, including the ones in 1998 and 2004.