It was finalised in a workshop organised by Save the Children in Bangladesh in the presence of officials of the Ministry of Disaster Management and Relief at the BIAM Foundation Auditorium in Dhaka, said a press release.

The chief guest at the event, Md Mohsin, Secretary of Disaster Management and Relief Ministry said through this database, it will be possible to store and use updated information of all urban community volunteers in the country.

Also read: 64 pc children of marginal groups face food crisis: Save the Children

He said "Although the responsibility of creating the Database is basically ours, Save the Children has cooperated in this regard."

Article 3.4.1 of the Disaster Management Policy 2015 mentions the issue of ‘Inclusion of the National Disaster Volunteer Organization’ under Section 13 of the Disaster Management Act-2012 of the Urban Volunteers.

Also read: Save the Children launches ‘Red Alert’ campaign to address climate change

Save the Children and its partner organizations are currently involved with a total of 1,200 urban community volunteers and are working to train new volunteers.

Also read: 150m additional children fell into poverty due to Covid-19: UNICEF, Save the Children

On the basis of Office Order No. 51.00.0000.321.38.020.17-305 of the Ministry of Disaster Management and Relief, a three-member committee including Satyabrata Saha, Shamima Haque, and Md Mohsin, all three additional secretaries was formed for the purpose of preparing Urban Community Volunteer Management Guidelines and Database.

Under their supervision and with the participation of representatives of various like-minded government and non-government organisations, the drafting of the Database- 2020 was completed with the technical assistance of Save the Children in Bangladesh.

Also read: Agreement signed among Save the Children, 10 Minute School and Robi

Director General of Disaster Management Directorate Md Atiqul Haque who presided over the event, said “I sincerely thank Save the Children for this initiative. Hopefully, based on the feedback of the participants, the National Urban Community Volunteer Database 2020 will be handed over soon and the Ministry of Disaster Management and Relief will take over the overall responsibility of the database.”

Also read: DAE inks MoU with Save the Children

Nazat Chowdhury, Senior Manager, Save the Children in Bangladesh, presented the technical aspects of the database and answered various technical questions from the participants. Kazi Tasmin Ara Ajmeri, Deputy Secretary, Ministry of Disaster Management and Relief hosted the event.