Professor Hironori Hamanaka, Chair, Board of Directors, Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES), Japan, visited InM on August 26, 2013. During his visit, a review meeting between InM and IGES was held that was presided over by Professor Hamanaka. At the meeting, the institutes discussed about the bilateral relationship and the ongoing InM-IGES joint research project entitled “Building Resilience and Adaptive Capacity to Climate Change through Microfinance in Bangladesh”. The Executive Director of InM Professor M. A. Baqui Khalily briefed on the current status and way forward of the project. Among others, Dr. Muhammad Abdul Latif, Director (R & KnM), InM, Dr. Md. Mosleh Uddin Sadeque, Director (T & O), InM, and Mr. K. M. Tarek, Head (F & A), InM, and Dr. Henry Scheyvens, Director, Natural Resources Management Group, IGES, were also present. Professor Hamanaka also chaired the Panel Session on “Climate Change, Vulnerability and Microfinance” at InM’s two-day National Conference on “Microfinance and Development” held previously on August 24-25, 2013.
At the review meeting, Professor Hamanaka said the research results must reflect to the policy implications so that it could share the gathered knowledge and help the poor people build their capacity. He emphasized on crafting a special intervention program for climate change which along with building the adaptive capacity will also incorporate the water and sanitation, health care services, etc.
He also added that by extending the knowledge through effective research, the climate change issue is needed to be addressed and linked with the microfinance and poverty and thus, shape the research agenda for future. Professor Hamanaka finally concluded that by bringing researchers from IGES and by sharing knowledge between the two Institutes, InM and IGES would be able to pave the way for future collaborative activities at national and international levels.
