International Social Work 2015, Vol. 58(3) 401–420 © The Author(s) 2015 Reprints and permissions: sagepub.co.uk/journalsPermissions.nav DOI: 10.1177/0020872815570074 isw.sagepub.com isw Do non-governmental organisations’ socio-economic and training programmes improve disaster prevention capacity of their beneficiaries? Mohammad Aktaruzzaman Khan Universiti Sains Malaysia, Malaysia; International Islamic University Chittagong, Bangladesh Anees Janee Ali Universiti Sains Malaysia, Malaysia Abstract This study examines the relationship between non-governmental organisations’ (NGOs) socio- economic and training programmes and their beneficiaries’ coping capacity during natural disasters. NGOs are the most active force supporting community welfare programmes in dealing with vulnerable clients during disasters. This study utilises both qualitative and quantitative techniques based on multi-staged stratified sampling using multiple regression analysis. The results indicate that NGOs’ training reaction significantly improves their clients’ disaster prevention capacity. This finding implies that NGOs should put greater emphasis on socio-economic programmes as well as training programmes. Keywords Bangladesh, climate change, disaster prevention, NGOs, socio-economic programmes, training Introduction Bangladesh is one of four Asian countries that is most vulnerable to climate change due to the com- bined effect of predicted warming and limited societal capacity to adapt to potential impacts of disas- ters caused by climate change (Allison et al., 2009). The country is the world’s most densely populated (1,188 people per square kilometre), comprising 71 percent rural inhabitants (World Bank, 2012). Disasters are annual and frequent events in Bangladesh – people have become socially and economi- cally vulnerable to natural calamities, and are greatly affected by climate change. Few (2003) Corresponding author: Mohammad Aktaruzzaman Khan, International Islamic University Chittagong, 154/A, College Road, Chittagong-4203, Bangladesh. Email: rajarkul2002@yahoo.com 570074ISW 0 0 10.1177/0020872815570074International Social WorkKhan and Ali research-article 2015 Article by guest on May 1, 2015 isw.sagepub.com Downloaded from