21 July, Rongpur, Bangladesh - Mst Chameli Khatun, 30, hails from Gobindpur of Haldia union under Shaghata upazila in Gaibandha district. She lives with her husband, three children and mother-in-law. Floods inundated both their home and farmland, damaging their jute harvest. They preserved some paddy in their home, but the floods rendered it useless, while they were also forced to sell off their livestock to make ends meet. She was also forced to tie up her cattle at the dam, for its own safety, near the embankment. She thanked UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) to giving her a silo, which now helps her to fetch drinking water, which is miles away from her house. On 4 July a high probability of severe flooding was forecast for mid-July along the Jamuna River in Bangladesh, with one-third of the area's total population likely to be affected. That warning was the trigger for the UN to immediately release $5.2 million from the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) to help communities urgently prepare and protect themselves.
The money went to three participating agencies ? the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) to enable them to prepare to distribute cash, livestock feed, storage drums, and hygiene, dignity and health kits.