Speakers in a function here today underscored the need for keeping the activities of food bank functioningall the year round to provide support to the vulnerable communities of chars of the district to help pass their days without hardship during the crisis period.

“The people of char and its neighboring river basin experience natural calamities like flood, river erosion and severe cold wave from January to December. During the time of disasters, the people particularly the poor and day laborers become jobless as a result their sorrows know no bound for want of employment. In that time, food bank can support the vulnerable people to pass their critical time without sufferings and trouble,” they said.

They made the comments while they were addressing a view exchange meeting on Friendship’s support for people’s own innovative activities in food security at the conference room of Deputy Commissioner (DC) here this noon.

FRIENDSHIP, a leading non-government organization of the country arranged the function  under the project of Strengthening Food Security and Nutrition of the flood impacted Communities of Northern Bangladesh intimes of International Food Price Hike and Associated Food Crisis funded by FRIENDSHIP LUXEMBOURG.

Deputy Director of local government section of the DC office Shariful Islam attended the function as the chief guest and ADC-General Sushanta Kumar Mahato spoke at the event as the special guest while assistant director of FRIENDSHIP Ahmed Toufiqur Rahman presided over the function.

The function began through a welcome speech delivered by senior project manager Nazmul Hossain and then a power point presentation on the subject was done by senior program specialist Romanul Ferdous,

In his presentation, Ferdous said as the food bank played a significant and positive role to overcome the critical time of the hard to reach char people during the corona pandemic period the organization took an initiative to continue the food bank activity under the project for the term of one year.

After one year, the duration of the project would expire. The objective of Today’s discussion with various stakeholders is how to survive and sustain the food banks after ending the duration of the project, he concluded.

During the open discussion session of the meeting, district livestock officer Dr. Masudur Rahman, additional deputy director of the DAE Md Rustam Ali, disability affairs officer Akter Hossain, assistant program manager Rezoanul Haque, Mollarchar union parishad chairman Saiduzzaman Sarker and Kamarjani union parishad chairman Matiar Rahman spoke among others.

The speakers gave their valuable comment and recommendations on how to sustain the food banks at the greater interest of the vulnerable char people. After elaborate discussion, many suggestions and recommendations were adopted to make the food banks sustainable in the chars of the districts.

Apart from it, Ahmed Toufiqur Rahman, assistant director of the FRIENDSHIP, gave answer to the questions raised by the participants Runa Khan, founder and executive director of FRIENDSHIP virtually sought wholehearted cooperation of all stakeholders here to make food bank activity a grand success in future.

Earlier, journalist Sarker Mohammad Shahiduzzaman elaborately described the positive impact of the food banks set up by FRIENDSHIP at Kalasonar char under Fulchhariupazila during the corona pandemic in 2020, 2021.

More than 80 people including govt. officials, public representatives, journalists, NGO activists, town elite attended the program.