The SAJIDA Foundation has organized a discussion session at COP28 in Dubai, titled “Fostering Resilience: The Path to Bottom-Up Mental Health Support in Climate-Affected Communities”.
The session, held at the Bangladesh Pavilion, highlighted the critical need for mental health support in climate-vulnerable regions, particularly in Bangladesh.
As the seventh most climate-vulnerable country globally, Bangladesh faces escalating mental health concerns due to extreme weather conditions and frequent climate-induced events. The session underscored the widespread repercussions, including anxiety, PTSD, elevated suicide rates, reduced well-being, ecological grief, increased domestic violence, cultural erosion, and weakened social bonds.
Speakers at the session addressed these issues, emphasizing the potential risks for climate-vulnerable nations.
Wameq A Raza, Senior Health Specialist at the World Bank, stressed the importance of making mental health a focal point in climate change actions.
Raza revealed that 16% of the country's population in Bangladesh is depressed, and 6% experience generalized anxiety, exceeding the global average.
Dr Ainun Nishat, Professor Emeritus at Brac University, discussed effective strategies on loss and damage that could be applied to mental health. He advocated for training those involved in rescue operations to provide mental support for trauma, integrating mental health into climate-related efforts.
Dr Samiya Ahmed Selim, Advisor at SAJIDA Foundation's Climate Change Program (CCP), emphasized the significance of collaboration and knowledge-sharing.
She discussed ongoing efforts to develop tools for bottom-up mental health support and the challenges in quantifying non-economic loss and damage.
Tajwar Hoque, Director-Development Programs at SAJIDA Foundation, moderated the session, highlighting the role of local partners in gathering evidence and complementing existing systems with technology-driven interventions.
Sanjay Kumar Bhowmik, First Secretary of the Bangladesh Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, recommended a focus on vulnerable populations during disasters. He emphasized the need for equal respect in volunteer efforts and outlined initiatives under the Mujib Climate Prosperity Plan.
Other speakers included Kyra Lilier from Heidelberg Institute for Global Health, Dr Valéry Ridde from Centre population et Développement (CEPED), and Dr. Madeleine Thomson from Wellcome Trust.
SAJIDA Foundation is showcasing case studies and interventions at COP28, highlighting their multi-tiered community-based mental health services and technology-driven physical health services. In Bangladesh, their Climate Change Programme (CCP) addresses climate-resilient livelihoods, green skills development, and nature-based solutions for integrated farming, aiming to create harmonious living environments for people and biodiversity in riverine and coastal areas.