Project Description

The Proyash II Urban Resilience Project is a continuation of Save the Children Bangladesh's efforts to enhance disaster risk reduction (DRR) and urban resilience in the country. The project, funded by Laudes Foundation, focused on increasing the resilience of urban communities, particularly those in slums, by building capacity to cope with various urban risks and disasters. It works in the cities of Dhaka, Chattogram, and Savar, where it engages local communities, schools, and government institutions in developing disaster management systems and ensuring the sustainability of these initiatives. The project aimed to address the growing risks of natural hazards and climate change impacts, especially in densely populated slum areas. It focused on integrating disaster risk reduction into urban development planning and enhancing local government capacity for effective disaster management. The Proyash II project had four key components: School Safety Planning (SSP), Urban Risk Assessment (URA), Urban Community Volunteers (UCV), and the Children and Youth Journalist Group. The Mid-Term Programme Review (MTR) assessed the progress made towards achieving outcomes, particularly in disaster management capacity building, youth engagement, and school safety. The evaluation also measured the effectiveness, efficiency, impact, and sustainability of interventions, applying the OECD-DAC evaluation criteria. The assignment was awarded to Disaster Management Watch, and subsequently Communication and Development was engaged as Sub-Consultant to provide complementary services under the MTR.

The specific objectives of the MTR were as follows

• A standard Mid Term Review: To assess the project progress to date especially against the KPIs defined and consider programmatic revisions/improvisations to achieve the project LFA targets efficiently.
• To examine the effectiveness, efficiency and scalable outcomes of the applied components so far, strategies and implementation modalities of the interventions and provide recommendations for further improvement.
• Assessing 4 interventions: To understand the impact, cost effectiveness, scalability and challenges (including sustainability) of four key components i.e., School Safety Planning (SSP), Urban Risk Assessment (URA), Urban Community Volunteer (UCV) Children and Youth Journalist Group.
• To capture the learning and provide specific recommendations to improve programme quality along with consolidation planning for future urban projects and sustainability.

Service Provided by Communication and Development Limited

• Supported qualitative research through community-based FGDs and IDIs in urban slum areas.
• Conducted field validation and collected case studies with emphasis on child protection and inclusion.
• Assisted in data transcription, coding, and thematic analysis to strengthen qualitative evidence.
• Contributed to report drafting on psychosocial impacts, community participation, and inclusivity dimensions.
• Provided editorial and formatting support for reports.
• Provided technical backstopping during dissemination workshop for presentation materials and advocacy inputs.

Key Deliverables

• Inception Report with methodology and tools.
• Comprehensive MTR report with findings, recommendations, and lessons learned.
• Four summary component reports (SSP, URA, UCV, Youth Journalist Groups).
• VfM and SROI calculations in Excel.
• Dissemination workshop presentations and slide decks.