21 July 2020, Rongpur, Bangladesh - Mst Haoshi Begum, 30 hails from Gobindpur of Haldia union under Shaghata upazila in Gaibandha district. A family of four, she lives with her mother-in-law, her husband and her son. Floods have struck catastrophe on her family, as not only did it submerge their jute harvest, but also prevented their cattle from getting sold ahead of the Eid-ul-Azha. Previously, buyers used to come to them, known to rear cattle. But floods prevented all that, leaving them destitute. 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.