“Building a Resilient Future: IRC-Shushilan Project Progress and Climate Strategy Session"

Date of the meeting: 29 October 2024 Venue: Shushilan head office, Khulna Participants: Mohamed Riyas, Regional Emergency Director, IRC; Subarna Barma, Head of Emergency and Resilience program, IRC; Mostafa Nuruzzaman, Chief Executive; S.K Amirul Islam, Adviser; Satchidananda Biswas, Director; Sherina Akter, Deputy Director; Shahina Parvin, Deputy Director; project managers Faujhia Rahman and M M Mehedi Hasan and available all staff member at head office. On 29 October 2024, the IRC team visited Shushilan head office for an introductory and discussion session with the staff of Shushilan. The main purpose of this visit is to understand the project's progress, success, and implementation challenges of the ongoing project. Besides, the IRC team has an interest in the climate change initiatives of Shushilan in Southern Bangladesh to understand how they can leverage our emergency response project learning to work together on a long-term program. The key objectives of this field visit were • We are sharing the project progress and providing feedback for further action. • Discussion of climate change initiatives to work together in the long run Brief of the Meeting: Deputy director Sherina Akter, along with two project managers, received the guest with a warm welcome. Chief Executive Mostafa Nuruzzaman welcomed Mohamed Riyas, Regional Emergency Director, and Subarna Barma, Head of Emergency and Resilience Program, with a flower bouquet. The discussion meeting has taken place in the conference room of the head office. The meeting started with the national anthem and Shushilan song, followed by the organizational presentation presented by Chief Executive Mostofa Nuruzzaman. In this presentation, organizational profile, background, mission, vision, working area, projects & programs, people's organizations, Shushilan’s culture, offices, and publications were briefly discussed to understand the organization at a glance. Director Satchidananda Biswas presented a presentation on climate change initiatives of the organization, where different projects, programs, and initiatives to adapt, mitigate, and reduce the climate change impact were discussed. The key focus area was disaster risk reduction (DRR), adaptation, climate resilience, and sustainable solutions. Next, the project presentation was presented by project manager Faujhia Rahman, where the project progress, major achievements, implementation challenges, and areas of improvement were discussed. After the discussion session, the cultural team performed a dedicated song and organized a play regarding disaster risk reduction, which was highly appreciated by the IRC team.