INTANGIBLE CULTURAL HERITAGE (ICH) AND NATURALDISASTER IN BANGLADESH:
EXISTING POLICIES AND STRATEGIES FOR SAFEGUARDING
Md. Amanullah Bin Mahmood1Introduc�onBangladesh is a country with rich cultural diversity. It has a great deal of Intangible
Cultural Heritage (ICH), which contributes to strengthening social beliefs, building
resilience and recreation as well as economic development. Of the ICH of Bangladesh,four elements have already been added to UNESCO’s Lists. Bangladesh, however, isone of the world’s most vulnerable countries in terms of the adverse effects ofdisaster and climate change. Among other disasters, Bangladesh is the country mostvulnerable to tropical cyclones and the sixth most vulnerable to flooding (BCCSAP2009). Its unique geographical location makes the country more vulnerable todifferent natural disasters and climate change.
The country has a rich variety of ICH, but a number of ICH properties are under threat
due to the effects of disaster and climate change. Presently, Bangladesh isimplementing two important related conventions, the Convention for the Safeguardingof the Intangible Cultural Heritage (2003) and the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk
Reduction 2015–2030. Moreover, a newly prepared disaster-related plan, the National
Plan for Disaster Management 2016–2020, is also at the implementation stage.
Although disaster management is one of the most pressing issues in the country, few
drawbacks exist at the policy level for safeguarding ICH against disaster and climate
risk. Where the issues of safeguarding ICH from the effects of disaster and climatechange are addressed, this is done so indiscriminately and indirectly in different
related policies. For the effective management of disaster and safeguarding of ICH, it
is essential to align these on a single pla�orm.
Against this backdrop, this presentation mainly discusses the existing policies related
to the safeguarding of ICH from disaster and climate risk and identifies gaps. Inaddition, the presentation emphasizes the scope of effective policy in this regard.

Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) of Bangladesh
Bangladesh is a South Asian country with a rich thousand-year history of cultural
diversity. The country has a distinguished history of protecting its culture against
different aggressors, notably the Language Movement in 1952 and the Liberation War
1Formerly, Investment Planning and Monitoring Specialist, Food and Agriculture Organization of theUnited Nations, Dhaka, Bangladesh (October 2017–October 2018).

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in 1971. Although there are numerous significant ICH properties in the country, theterm ‘intangible cultural heritage’ is comparatively new and mostly used in theacademic sphere (Khalid and Chowdhury 2016).
There are four eminent ICH elements of the country that are inscribed in UNESCO’sRepresentative List: the Baul Songs, an oral tradition which was inscribed in 2008; theTraditional Art of Jamdani Weaving, traditional cra�smanship inscribed in 2013; theMangal Shovajatra on Pahela Baishakh (Rally for Hope held on the Bengali New Year’sDay), a festive event inscribed in 2016; and the Traditional Art of Shital Pati Weavingof Sylhet, traditional cra�smanship as well as knowledge and practice concerning
nature and the universe inscribed in 2017. Other traditional knowledge, skills,cra�smanship and performing arts that are considered ICH also exist in the country,
such as handloom weaving, traditional jewelry, pottery, bamboo and cane cra�s,nakshi katha (stitching art), Jatra (local opera), etc.

Disaster Proﬁle of Bangladesh
According to OCHA (the United Nations Oﬃce for the Coordination of Humanitarian
Assistance), Bangladesh is the second most disaster-prone country in Asia and thePacific. In 2012, 5.6 million people were affected by different disasters caused bynatural hazards. As per the Disaster Risk Index (2017), which uses scores from 1 to 10(1 being the lowest and 10 the highest), Bangladesh gets a score of 8.5 forearthquake risk, 10 for flood, 8.5 for tsunami, 7 for tropical cyclones, and 5.1 fordrought. In 10 years from 2005 to 2015, a total of 46 million people were affected bydisaster, and around 6,900 died due to floods, droughts, landslides and storms (OCHA2015). Among the top 10 global disasters in terms of human fatalities, two occurred in
Bangladesh: around 500,000 people died in two cyclones that occurred in 1970 and1991 (Duryog Nivaran 2016).

Figure 1068

Disaster Calendar of Bangladesh.

PROCEEDINGS OF THE ASIA-PACIFIC REGIONAL WORKSHOP ON INTANGIBLE CULTURAL HERITAGE
AND NATURAL DISASTERS

The main disasters affecting thecountry are floods (flash floodingand riverine flooding), tropical
cyclones, droughts, landslides,
India
India
riverbank erosion, storms,
lightning, excessive rainfall andcold waves. As seen in Figure 1,
which shows the disaster
calendar of the country, the mostIndiavulnerable months are April andMay in terms of the risks ofdifferent types of disasters.
However, the vulnerable months
India
are April–May and October–
November for tropical cyclone
threat and June–September due
LEGENDto the risk of flood. In the multiFlood
River Bank
hazard map (Figure 2), the south,
MyanmarFlash Flood
Land Slidesoutheast and southwest areas
Droughtof Bangladesh are frequently
CycloneSalinity Zone
affected by tropical cyclones. TheFigure 2 Multi-hazard map of Bangladesh.
southeast hilly areas are usually(Source: MoDMR 2015)
affected by landslides,
northeastern areas are affectedby flash flooding, the central area and main river basins are affected by regularflooding, the north and north-central areas are affected by drought and both sides ofthe main rivers (shown in red) are affected by riverbank erosion.
In 1988 and 1998, there were severe riverine flooding events, and almost 60% of theland area of the country was flooded. In 1970 and 1991, two catastrophic cyclones
with tidal surges devastated the coast and around 500,000 died. In 1973 and 1996,
681 and 700 people died due to tornadoes and northwesterly high winds. Due toriverbank erosion, 5% of the land area of the country has been damaged every year.

Major Risk to ICH Due to Disaster
Displacement is one of the major risks for ICH in Bangladesh, and the main causes ofdisplacement are the direct and indirect effects of disasters, notably, tropical cyclones,tidal surges and riverbank erosion. ICH is strongly linked to the community or society
in a specific geographic area or natural environment. When a community of people isdisplaced from its familiar environmental se�ngs, its ICH is also lost or disappears. A
recent study found that 236 upazilas (sub-districts) are affected by tidal floods andcyclones, and among the affected population, 64% are displaced locally and 27% aredisplaced to other areas of the country including the city of Dhaka. Moreover, 179
upazilas are affected by riverbank erosion, and 26% of the affected population isdisplaced to different areas of the country including Dhaka (Displacement Solution,2012).

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Policy Issues
The three government ministries and their agencies that are most concerned with ICH
and disaster-related policies and strategy issues are the Ministry of Cultural Affairs(MoCA), the Ministry of Disaster Management and Relief (MoDMR) and the Ministryof Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEFCC). Presently, a number ofpolicies, plans and strategies exist to protect ICH against the risk of disaster; however,
the majority of policies, plans and strategies only broadly address the issue, notingthat ICH should be protected from disasters.
The National Culture Policy 2006 emphasizes the need to take actions for safeguarding
culture, and to take necessary steps to promote it. Moreover, the policy also stresses
the need to take necessary steps to properly disseminate the national culture as partof national development, while preserving tribal culture.
The National Disaster Management Policy 2015 has been developed based on theDisaster Management Act of 2012 (Section 19), aligned with the National Disaster
Management Plan 2011–2015 and Standing Order on Disaster 2010 (Revised). In theobjectives of this policy, the issue of safeguarding ICH has been addressed,
encouraging readiness and mitigation-related programs aligned with local-levelknowledge, culture and values. The Bangladesh Climate Change Strategies and Action
Plan 2009 (BCCASP) also indirectly address ICH. Among the six pillars of this strategy,pillar 1 (Food Security, Social Protection and Health) mentions the protection of
livelihoods in ecologically fragile areas and pillar 4 (Research and KnowledgeManagement) encourages the monitoring of internal and external migrations ofadversely impacted populations as well as providing support to them for capacity
building in the new environment. The Country Investment Plan for Environment,
Forestry and Climate Change 2016–2021 (EFCC-CIP) also emphasizes communitybased co-management and eco-system-based adaptation.
The 7th Five Year Plan (2016–2020) directly mentions the issue of safeguarding ICH.
The plan emphasizes that many ICH elements like literature, language, arts,performing arts, music and other domains of ICH are at risk and careful attention isneeded for their restoration, preservation and digitalization.

Gaps, Requirements and Recommenda�ons
Although there are a number of policies addressing the safeguarding and promotionof ICH at different levels (directly or indirectly), there are no dedicated policies orstrategies to safeguard ICH from disaster risk. A complete inventory of ICH at thenational level is a primary requirement for such safeguarding, but such an inventory
has not even been completed. It is also required to take necessary steps for theproper implementation of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015–2030 (SFDRR) and the Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural
Heritage (2003).
A detailed, national-level policy and planning analysis has to be conducted to identify

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PROCEEDINGS OF THE ASIA-PACIFIC REGIONAL WORKSHOP ON INTANGIBLE CULTURAL HERITAGE
AND NATURAL DISASTERS

the policy gaps and requirements as well as to prepare an action plan for safeguarding
ICH, especially from disaster risk. Harmonizing among related ministries anddepartments (MoCA, MoDMR and MoEFCC) would be also helpful in developing plans
for safeguarding ICH from disasters. A certain gap also exists at the awareness level ofICH, especially in terms of disaster risk and safeguarding issues. For this reason, more
efforts in the field of ICH, including ICH-related education programs and campaigns forawareness would be required.
In this respect, it should be noted that the UNESCO Dhaka Oﬃce, Bangladesh
Shilpokala Academy and the Ministry of Cultural Affairs (MoCA) are currently
implementing a three-year project titled ‘Strengthening National Capacities forSafeguarding Intangible Cultural Heritage for Sustainable Development in Bangladesh(2016–2019)’. Several training sessions on ‘Community-based intangible cultural
heritage inventorying’ and the ‘Capacity building training workshop on ICH
nomination’ have been completed.

R���������
Akter, S. S. (2007). Intangible Cultural Heritage Related Law- in the case of Bangladesh. Asia-PacificDatabase on Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) by Asia-Pacific Cultural Centre for UNESCO (ACCU)
Duryog Nivaran Secretariat (2016). South Asia Disaster Report. Srilanka. Available at: http://www.
duryognivaran.org/images/Reports/sadr/SADR%202016_v6.pdf
OCHA (2017). Bangladesh Country Proﬁle. Available at: https://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/CP_Bangladesh_250117.pdf
GoB (2013). Final Report, National Workshop on implementation of UNESCO convention for thesafeguarding of the intangible cultural heritage of Bangladesh. Dhaka, Bangladesh.
Khalid, M. S. and Chowdhury, M. S. A. (2016). Representation and Dissemination of Intangible Cultural
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Journal of Tourism and Hospitality Research.
Displacement Solutions (2012). Climate Displacement in Bangladesh: The Need for Urgent Housing,Land and Property (HLP) Rights Solutions. Available at: https://unfccc.int/files/adaptation/groups_committees/loss_and_damage_executive_committee/application/pdf/ds_bangladesh_report.pdf
MoCA (2006). Bangladesh Culture Policies 2006. Ministry of Cultural Affairs, Government of thePeople’s Republic of Bangladesh, Dhaka.
MoDMR. (2017). National Plan for Disaster Management (2016–2020). Ministry of DisasterManagement and Relief, Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh, Dhaka.
GED. (2015). 7th Fiver Year Plan: FY 2016–FY 2020: Accelerating Growth, Empowering Citizens.
General Economic Division, Planning Commission, Government of the People’s Republic ofBangladesh.
MoEF (2017). Country Investment Plan for Environment, Forestry and Climate Change (2016–2021),
Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh.

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