Growing numbers of people are losing their homes and lands every day because of the effects of climate change. Climate displacement is happening now, and has been happening for many years. With some notable exceptions, the vast majority of governments the world over have thus far failed to protect the rights of climate displaced families and only a handful of States have policies and programmes in place to protect this new wave of displacement, which will be far, far larger than displacement associated with conflict and instability.
DS and our partners Young Power in Social Action (YPSA) in Bangladesh established The One House, One Family at a time project (OHOF) several years ago to provide quality homes to some of the most vulnerable climate displaced families in eastern Bangladesh. To date we have built four houses, with four additional houses under construction now. OHOF’s third phase will commence in 2020 with the aim of constructing a further 12 homes, culminating in a total of 20 homes by the end of next year. With an average of five or six people per house, OHOF will have provided permanent new homes to more than 100 people by the end of 2020. Virtually all of the funds raised for OHOF do not come from traditional donors, but rather come from ordinary people throughout the world who want to be part of solving climate displacement. OHOF works by raising funds for each home – the total cost of each house including land and all building materials, labour, etc, is USD 8,300 – from the general public. DS guarantees that 100% of all OHOF contributions are sent to Bangladesh. DS coordinates OHOF but takes no funds for the project and manages it entirely on a pro bono basis.
DS associate and former UNHCR official Brian Gorlick visited the OHOF sites in November 2019 to review developments and meet with some of the residents of the OHOF homes. We are happy to provide a series of pictures of both the pre-existing homes as well as the new homes currently under construction taken during Brian’s visit.
A radio interview on local community radio in Chittagong with Brian and YPSA is available for listening here: Talkshow with Brain_Radio Sagor Giri_YPSA.mp3
YPSA’s coverage of the visit is available here: http://ypsa.org/2019/11/mr-brain-gorlick-visits-ypsa/
When those causing climate change fail us, the people need to act!
If you would like to be part of the growing movement dedicated to protecting the rights of climate displaced people everywhere, join us and support One House, One Family at a time. If you would like to assist, please write us at info@displacementsolutions.org. This is your personal chance to make a difference in tackling climate displacement.
