Does forecast-based financing (FbF) lower women's vulnerability to flooding?

Forecast-based financing is gaining traction globally in the humanitarian sector as a critical tool for reducing disaster risk. But the global and national literature mainly shed light on the effectiveness in reducing household-level vulnerability, without a particular focus on women's specific vulnerability. This study uses qualitative methods to analyze rural Bangladeshi women's riverine flood challenges and whether forecast-based financing has reduced their vulnerability to flooding. The findings suggest that existing rural socio-cultural norms, cash disbursement timing, and other factors influenced women's cash aid anticipatory action choices, and the humanitarian actors and recipients should coordinate to improve the situation.

This article was originally published in Progress in Disaster Science, 24 (2024) 100389; https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2590061724000796