Baroness Chapman used her first visit to Bangladesh as UK International Development Minister to meet Rohingya women and girls and to see UK‑backed services preventing and responding to violence against women and girls. The trip also doubled as a climate check‑in on how adaptation finance can keep families safer as floods and cyclones intensify.

According to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office, the UK is adding £30 million to its Resilience and Adaptation Fund, with £4 million earmarked for Bangladesh. The funding will expand practical training in climate‑resilient farming, water‑smart irrigation and cyclone‑ready livelihoods for tens of thousands of households in high‑risk districts.

In Cox’s Bazar and on the island settlements, women’s safety and climate resilience are inseparable. Evidence highlighted by UNHCR and UNFPA shows that well‑lit, women‑centred spaces, clean water and secure cooking options reduce gender‑based violence risks while improving health. Programmes visited by the minister blend protection services with income support so families can withstand price shocks and storms.

Bangladesh’s disaster preparedness has saved many lives through community warning systems and cyclone shelters, yet repeated flooding, saltwater intrusion and rising temperatures still threaten food security. Adaptation funding focused on skills-alongside infrastructure-helps farmers switch to flood‑tolerant crops, raise homestead gardens and keep small businesses running after a storm.

The visit follows a £27 million UK humanitarian package announced in September to provide three months of food, shelter, clean water and other life‑saving support to more than half a million Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh. The UK notes it has provided over £447 million to the Rohingya response since 2017, making it a long‑term donor to the crisis.

Alongside field visits, Chapman met the Interim Government’s Chief Adviser, Professor Muhammad Yunus, National Security Adviser Khalilur Rahman and Bangladesh Investment Development Authority chair Ashik Chowdhury. A roundtable on UK–Bangladesh cooperation on irregular migration explored how safer labour pathways and resilience at source can reduce risky journeys.

The minister cast the relationship as a partnership with Bangladesh: supporting host communities who have welcomed Rohingya families, accelerating climate action and managing migration together. British High Commissioner Sarah Cooke reinforced that approach, describing a modern, mutually beneficial development partnership focused on results for people on the ground.

For Eco Current readers, the signal is clear: the UK is nudging aid towards resilience. If delivery partners such as BRAC, IOM and local government align training with Bangladesh’s national adaptation plans, the £4 million allocation can stretch further-from solar‑powered water systems to farmer field schools and women‑led savings groups that keep cash circulating after a cyclone.

The £30 million uplift spans 12 countries and regions beyond Bangladesh: Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Kenya, Myanmar, Nigeria, the Sahel, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria and Uganda. At the same time, the UK continues to back a safe, voluntary and dignified return of Rohingya refugees to Myanmar when conditions allow, a position it has reiterated consistently.

What matters next is speed and proof. Getting training cohorts up before the next monsoon, paying women fairly for their time and publishing open data on outcomes-yields, incomes and school attendance-will show whether this investment is building real resilience. That is the standard frontline communities in Bangladesh deserve.