Past Projects

March to September 2022 – Exploring the Feasibility and Value of a Regional Network for First Responders (RN4FR) to Reduce Avoidable Disaster Deaths in the Caribbean Region

A particularly pressing area of opportunity for reducing avoidable deaths is to improve the effectiveness of first responders (aka category 1 responders) – emergency services, national and partner country defence agencies, humanitarian non-governmental organisations, private sector organisations and local community leaders and volunteers. Whenever a disaster strikes, first responders are the key actors providing critical assistance to the impacted populations. However, these actors often work within their own domains, neither coordinating or cooperating with their relief work, nor communicating or sharing what they learn from their experiences.

To explore this issue for first responders in the Caribbean region, ADN convened on 10 December 2021 a one-day virtual Symposium on ‘Integrating Disaster Risk Management with Emergency Services and Defence to Reduce Avoidable Disaster Deaths.’ The Symposium’s participants agreed on the need to increase collaboration, coordination and communication (3Cs) in national disaster response planning and mitigation efforts among all first responders in the Caribbean region to reduce avoidable disaster deaths and limit the impact on affected populations. This feasibility study posits that by supporting creation of a Regional Network for First Responders (RN4FR) as a forum for interaction that promotes the 3Cs can lead to a unified team-based approach to disaster response across the Caribbean that shortens response times and ensures a well-coordinated relief effort.

With this goal in mind, the proposed project aims to achieve the following objectives:
1) To identify capacity gaps and coordination opportunities for organisations providing first responders in the Caribbean region, through a virtual stakeholder consultation and online questionnaire for exchange of knowledge, experiences and insights.
2) To develop a roadmap for the steps needed to address the conclusions of the consultation and online questionnaire, including the creation of the RN4FR, through a stakeholder workshop.

For more information and updates on this project, please click here.

December 2021 to March 2022 – Understanding the impact of climate change on drowning risk in Bangladesh and Tanzania

The aims of this project were to:

  1. Review the literature that identifies and discusses the weather-related impacts of climate change in Bangladesh and Tanzania in the 21stcentury, including climate-related migration
  2. Determine the most likely implications for shifts in drowning risk in Bangladesh and Tanzania because of climate change in the 21stcentury
  3. Categorise these risks based on the likelihood of their occurrence, and the geographies and demographics that may be most affected by them
  4. Apply these findings to the RNLI’s International programmes in Bangladesh and Tanzania to estimate the likely impact on the feasibility and effectiveness of existing interventions to continue to prevent drowning.

This was a collaborative research project between the University of East Anglia’s (UEA) Water Security Research Centre, Climate UEA, and ADN. The project is led by Professor Roger Few (UEA) from Climate UEA and is funded by the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI).

For more information and updates on this project, please click here.

March 2021 to July 2021 – Meals on Wheels

On the 2nd of May 2021, we launched an appeal to raise funds to respond to the second surge of COVID-19 in India, through a novel initiative called ‘Meals On Wheels’. The objective of this targeted initiative was to reduce avoidable deaths from nutritional crisis and starvation amongst the tribal community of Kandamahal district in Odisha who have been the hardest hit by the impact of economic lockdown.  

We are pleased to inform you that we were able to raise £1,255 through the GoFund Platform in the UK, and INR19,100 in India. With the help of this fund, the host of ADN Hub India, Orissa State Volunteers Social Workers Association (OSVSWA) distributed 821 food parcels across 18 villages of Kandamahal district from the 2nd to the 5th of July 2021.

Due to COVID-19 protection measures, the second phase of food distribution was delayed. We are however pleased to announce that the second phase of the Meals on Wheels project has been completed. During the second phase of distribution, 298 packets of food were distributed on 9 and 10 July 2022 in the district of Nayagarh. The villages included Baliberena, Chadeyapalli, Uthanisahi, Pathargadia, Harijan Sahi, Dudura, Kujamendhi and Beberi.

Over the first and second phases, a total of 1,119 packets/ meals were distributed to reduce avoidable deaths from nutritional crisis and starvation amongst the socio-economically vulnerable groups of population in Odisha. The ADN team are grateful for the support and donations for this project. 

The ADN team is grateful to all the donors. For more information, please click here.

December 2020 to April 2021 – Upscaling RHCC by Developing a Protocol for Low-Budget Reproductive Health Kit

Funded by IPPF’s Designated Regional Funds, this project aims to develop a low-budget reproductive health kit for disasters and humanitarian crises and identify the pathways to integrate this kit in the Government of Bangladesh’s reproductive health system, and in other low-and middle-income countries. This new project is a follow-on from the previous research project titled: Exploring the Challenges and Opportunities Around Reproductive Health in Disasters in Belkuchi, Bangladesh. This new project is led by Dr Nibedita Ray-Bennett (University of Leicester) in collaboration with the research partners: Dr Fariha Hassen, (BSMMU), Mr Maqbul Bhuiyan (DMA), Mrs Nimisha Goswami (IPPF-SAR) and Dr Murali Mohan Reddy Gopireddy (IPPF-SAR). The Research Assistants are: Dr Sumaiya Tasneem Khan (BSMMU) and Mrs Denise Corsel (University of Leicester).

For more information on this project, please click here for a summary of the project or click here to access the project’s Policy Brief on ‘Introducing Reproductive Health Kits’, and the project’s leaflet on ‘Frequently Asked Questions on Emergency and Reproductive Health Kits’.

November 2020 to September 2022 – Avoidable Deaths from Snakebites during Disasters in Odisha, India

India accounts for approximately half of all global snakebite deaths reported through traditional surveillance systems and is responsible for 2.97 million DALYs. Around 70% of deaths occur in eight states with over half of the total Indian population: Bihar, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh (including Telangana), Rajasthan and Gujarat. ADN’s India Hub is located in Odisha. In 2020, after flood related deaths, snakebites were the major cause of deaths.

To understand the cause and circumstances that lead to snakebite deaths during disasters, this research project was initiated to:

  1. Investigate the complex micro-interactions between various systems at work including gender and the cause of high-risk areas to understand the true burden of snakebite deaths in Odisha.
  2. Explore the cause and circumstances leading to avoidable snakebite deaths during disasters in Odisha.
  3. Identify localised risk governance that can potentially lead to reducing snakebite deaths in Odisha.

For more information and updates on this project, please click here.

July to October 2020 – COVID-19 Helplines for Mental Health & Psychosocial Support in India

The aim of this project was to identify existing helpline services in India that provide psychosocial support to the general public during the COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent restricted social interactions. Moreover, it also aimed at disseminating the comprehensive report via different agencies to make it more available to the general public. This was a collaborative research project between Avoidable Deaths Network (ADN) and Doers in collaboration with NIIS group of Institutions, Odisha. It was led by Dr Nibedita Ray-Bennett (University of Leicester), Ms Anuradha Bhardwaj (Doers) and Dr Bimal Kanti Nayak (NIIS Group of Institutions). The Conent Analysts included: Shaiza Khawaja, Srashta Chowdhury and Meharaj Bano from ADN; Satyajit Barik, Kingston Pradhan, Debajani Routray, Rupashree Mishra and Priyanka Mishra from the NIIS Group of Institutions; and Niharika Gupta, Nidhi Kalta, Jithin Shelly, Aiswaraya K K, Kumari Anjali, Nitin Rathi,  Manpreet Kaur and Muneera K from Doers.

For updates on this project, please click here.

April 2020 to October 2022 – Social Distancing: Cross-Cultural Perspectives from Bangladesh, India, Japan and the UK

The aim of this research project is to explore how social distancing is being defined, perceived and practiced by national governments and household during the COVID-19 pandemic in Bangladesh, India, Japan and the UK. This is a collaborative research project led by Dr Nibedita Ray-Bennett (University of Leicester) in collaboration with Dr Fariha Haseen (Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University) in Bangladesh, Dr Upasona Ghosh and Dr Srinivas Nalala (Indian Institute of Public Health-Odisha) in India, and Dr Hideyuki Shiroshita (Kansai University) in Japan. The Co-Investigators include: Dr Iqbal Kabir (Directorate General of Health Services, Government of Bangladesh); Mr Dillip Pattnaik (Orissa State Volunteers and Social Workers Association); Sumaiya Tasneem Khan (Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University); Mr Maqbul Bhuiyan (Data Management Aid); and Mrs Denise Corsel (University of Leicester).

For updates on this project, please click here.

March to August 2020 – ADN’s Art Project on ‘Hope’
Looking for an art project 🎨 for the young (or young at heart)? If you or your kids are stuck at home due to the COVID-19 lock down and you fancy yourself as a bit of an artist, you might be able to help us out.

The ADN is looking for a new image to be featured in our next newsletter and as the cover picture of our Facebook page. We are looking for an image that represents hope against the COVID-19 pandemic. In these unprecedented times, it is important to stay hopeful and focus on the positives of life (e.g. your family, keeping people safe, working together, and etcetera).

Once you’re done, please post your image in the comments on our Facebook page or email it to us. We will select an image to be featured! You can go to our Facebook page by clicking here or emailing us at: contact@avoidable-deaths.net

Please see our ADN Photo Gallery for the images that have already been submitted. Thank you to those who are participating in this Art Project on ‘Hope’.

November 2019 to July 2020 – Strengthening Avoidable Deaths Network

Funded by Leicester’s GCRF and Tiger Team Funding, this project aimed to engage with regional coordinators and relevant stakeholders in India, Bangladesh and Uganda to identify research themes for ADN HUBs.

November 2019 to July 2020 – Raising the Visibility, Outreach and Impact

Funded by ESRC-Impact Acceleration Account, this project aimed to raise the visibility, outreach and impact of the IPPF-funded project ‘Exploring the Challenges and Opportunities around Reproductive Health in Disasters in Bangladesh’.

May 2019 to September 2020 – Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction in Geneva

This project aimed to explore the perceptions of whether it is possible to reduce global disaster mortality and the number of affected people globally by 2030 (Sendai Framework’s Global Target A and B), and to identify practices to reduce disaster deaths. The primary data for this project was collected at the Ignite Stage for the Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction in Geneva on 17 May 2019. This project was led by Dr Nibedita Ray-Bennett and Dr Hideyuki Shiroshita. The Research assistants for this project were: Mr Daniel Mendez, Mr Krishna Clarke and Mrs Denise Corsel.

May 2017 to June 2019 – Risk, Crisis, Disaster and Development Management (RCDDM): Future Leader Programme

Funded by Kansai University’s Grant-in-Aid for the Promotion and Upgrading of Education and Research, this 22-months research project was led by the Principal Investigators: Dr Nibedita S. Ray-Bennett and Dr Hideyuki Shiroshita. The Research Assistants on this project were: Mrs Denise Corsel and Ms Sigi Fu. To read more, please click here. The products for this project are still a work in progess.

January 2019 to March 2019 – Disaster Risk Governance of Local Level Administration in Bangladesh

Funded by the Leicester Institute for Advanced Studies’ (LIAS) Rutherford Fund Fellowship Scheme, Dr Nibedita S. Ray-Bennett hosted Dr Edris Alam for three months. This research project aimed to strengthen the inter-departmental coordination, partnership and collaboration between governmental actors in order to reduce deaths from landslides in Bangladesh. For more information about the Rutherford Fund Fellowship Scheme, please click here.

October 2015 to July 2018 – Improving the Quality and Availability of Reproductive Health in Disasters in Belkuchi Upazila, Bangladesh

To improve the quality and availability of post‑abortion care during a flood, the University of Leicester and International Planned Parenthood Federation South Asia Region (IPPF‑SAR), in collaboration with the Government of Bangladesh, developed and measured the impact of an integrated intervention package, called RHCC. For more information, please click here for a summary of the project or click on the respective links to access the project’s website, blog, Facebook page, film, the Policy Brief on improving the quality of post-abortion care, the Policy Brief on the RHCC Approach and the project’s Final Report.

February 2017 to April 2017 – Earth Observation for Disaster Risk Reduction in the Horn of Africa

Funded by the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC)’s International Development Innovation and Impact Fund, this three months scoping project explored the earth observation (EO), early warning system (EWS) and Sendai nexus for Disaster Risk Reduction in the Horn of Africa, specifically in Kenya and Uganda. For more information, please click here. To access the outputs that were developed from this project, please click the links below: