Video credit: OXFAM International
Note: Permission to use this video to this channel/site has been granted on 7 April, 2016.
Review: OXFAM and Abdel Rahman El Gamal (Founder of the video channel)
This interesting video was filmed in the village of South Tetulbaria in the Bay of Bengal, situated on the bank of the Bishkhali River, Bangladesh. This village community relies on fishing which significantly contributes to their life.
Because of climate change, the seas turned more violent, less predictable and boats are capsizing more frequently. It is really sad to know that about 20% of the women in this village are widows after losing their husbands in the seas. In fact, Mamtaz Begum (35) -the key character in this video- is not different from that as she became a widow when she was 24 after she lost her husband while fishing in 1999 in a boat accident because violent weather. After that, she lost her mother due to Cyclone SIDR, leaving her with her four children.
Mamtaz, the young widow decided to fight for climate justice and demanded justice for vulnerable communities near to the Bay of Bengal. She was one of four witnesses who gave testimonies in November 2010 in front of the panel of juries at a ‘Climate Tribunal’ in the capital, Dhaka about how climate change is affecting their lives.
The tribunal concluded that the impacts felt by the coastal fisherfolk community of Bangladesh is the direct consequence of climate change and based on that some important recommendations have been issued for action by the Government of Bangladesh including immediate measures to reduce vulnerability to the projected impacts of climate change on the people of climate-impact zones.
