Govt roll out digital platform for ensuring risk-informed development

The government on Wednesday rolled out a web-based platform under the Planning Commission aiming to ensure risk-informed development through integrating probable environmental disaster-related information into development policies and programmes.

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) provided technical support for the initiative – Digital Risk Information Platform – which was financed by the governments of Bangladesh, the UK and Sweden, said a press release.

Planning Minister M A Mannan inaugurated the platform at the Planning Commission office in the capital.

"Strengthening risk-governance and institutionalisation of resilience are global and national commitments. We want to minimise disaster-induced economic losses," the minister said.

Besides, effective use of public money must be ensured through risk-informed investment, he added.

The platform will help vulnerability assessment by providing necessary data, the release reads, adding that it will also contribute to mitigating disaster risk in different development projects.

The government agencies can access more than 300 maps for risk, hazards, exposure, vulnerability, and climate change on the platform.

Shamsul Alam, state minister for planning, Sudipto Mukerjee, resident representative of the UNDP, Nick Harvey, senior humanitarian adviser at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office of the UK, Christine Johnsson, deputy head of mission at the Sweden embassy were present, among others, at the event.