The National Alliance for Risk Reduction and Response Initiative (NARRI) Consortium from Bangladesh, which is led by ActionAid, has been awarded the 2013 UN Sasakawa Award – the highest award for contributions to disaster risk reduction.

The UN award is given to an individual or institutions that have taken active efforts in reducing disaster risk in their communities and advocates for disaster risk reduction.

The award team was impressed with the achievement of the NARRI Consortium in working together in the fields of disaster risk reduction and resilience.

Farah Kabir, Country Director of ActionAid Bangladesh, who accepted the award on behalf of the consortium said:

Had we not taken the plunge to come together and form NARRI it would not have been possible to ‘act as one’ and leave our footprint in Bangladesh and in the disaster risk reduction and resilience sector

The NARRI Consortium is made up of ten international NGOs which have demonstrated the scale of impact which can be achieved through working in collaboration.

The consortium has worked with communities to reduce the risk of disasters, developing mass media campaigns, piloting new disaster risk reduction and setting standards, working in partnership with the Bangladeshi Government. NARRI works actively with women, making it unique. NARRI being the Bangla word for woman.

NARRI shares this year’s award with Brazilian city Belo Horizonte, emerging successfully from a list of a list of 28 individual, cities, institutions and networks that were nominated. 

ActionAid won a Sasakawa certificate of distinction in 2007 for its disaster risk reduction work in schools.