Alternative & sustainable livelihood solutions for coastal women by project GCA in Bangladesh

Backed by the Green Climate Fund, the project 'Enhancing Adaptive Capacities of Coastal Communities, especially Women, to Cope with Climate Change-Induced Salinity in Bangladesh' (known locally as the Gender-responsive Coastal Adaptation, or GCA, project) is empowering communities in Bangladesh, especially women, as ‘change-agents’ to plan, implement, and manage resilient livelihoods and drinking water solutions in the face of worsening climate change impacts on their freshwater resources. 

 

The project facilitates the formation of peer-to-peer support groups (Women Livelihood Groups – WLGs) to empower women to identify, plan for, and implement climate-resilient livelihoods through awareness raising, skills development, knowledge transfer, and investments into livelihood assets. GoB resources though Ministry of Women and Children Affairs enabling value-chain and market linkages development to spur adoption, sustainability, and scale of these alternative, resilient livelihoods. 

 

The project is building the capacities of beneficiaries to implement climate risk reduction strategies (including through improved last-mile dissemination of EWs) and continually adapt and safeguard their livelihoods and assets as climate risks evolve. The project thereby, capacitating women to diversify to resilient livelihoods and implement adaptive livelihood strategies in face of worsening salinity. 

 

The paradigm shift is to move away from focus on short-term responses and technology-led interventions towards community-centric solutions that build ownership and capacities across multiple stakeholders to sustain and scale up adaptive responses to safeguard livelihoods and water security.