World Drowning Prevention Day 2026: Bangladesh must move from assumption to organised action

By Md. Abul Borkat

There is a long-standing belief in Bangladesh that children growing up near ponds, canals, rivers, and ditches naturally learn to swim. While this may have been partly true in the past, the reality on the ground has drastically shifted. Villages once featured numerous open ponds where children swam regularly under the informal supervision of older siblings, relatives, or neighbours. Today, many of these ponds have been filled to make way for housing, roads, and infrastructure. Some of the remaining water bodies are used for commercial fish farming, where children are strictly barred, while others are too polluted to use. Children may still live close to water, but they no longer have safe, regular opportunities to learn to swim. Living beside water does not automatically mean knowing how to survive in it.

Survival swimming differs fundamentally from informal swimming. Simply moving through the water is not enough if a child cannot stay afloat, control their breathing, recognize danger, or exit safely. These are critical skills that must be taught systematically by trained instructors in a safe environment. Similarly, safe rescue requires specific knowledge and technique. A common, dangerous assumption is that anyone who can swim can rescue a drowning person. In reality, a panicked victim can easily grab an untrained rescuer and pull them underwater, turning a rescue attempt into a double tragedy. People must learn to call for help and use rescue objects from a safe position rather than diving in blindly. Survival swimming, water safety, and safe rescue must be addressed together.

The numbers are devastating. Around 50 people die from drowning every day in Bangladesh, and approximately 39 of them are children, essentially a classroom full of children disappearing daily. Most of these tragedies occur within just a few yards of home. A toddler might walk unnoticed toward a pond while a caregiver is occupied with household chores, or an older child might enter a canal with friends, unaware of its deceptive depth or currents. Drowning is a "silent epidemic" because it kills quietly, yet it receives far less attention than other public health crises.

On July 25, the global community observes World Drowning Prevention Day. The message for 2026 is “Unite to Turn the Tide.” It reminds us that drowning prevention cannot remain the sole responsibility of grieving families; it demands coordinated, collective action across all sectors of society.

Bangladesh has already demonstrated remarkable global leadership on this front. Alongside Ireland, Bangladesh co-led the United Nations General Assembly resolution on Global Drowning Prevention, which was unanimously adopted on April 28, 2021. Through the dedicated advocacy of Bangladesh's Permanent Mission to the UN in New York, all 193 member states recognized drowning as a critical global concern and established the World Drowning Prevention Day. This monumental international achievement must now be matched by sustained, aggressive action at home.

The encouraging news is that proven solutions are already at hand. Research by CIPRB shows that keeping children aged one to five in supervised community childcare centres, known as Anchals, reduces drowning risk by 82 percent. For children aged six to ten, survival swimming and water safety education reduce the risk by 96 percent. The World Health Organization has formally recognized these practical, community-based, and lifesaving interventions.

The Government of Bangladesh took a major step forward through the Integrated Community-Based Centre for Child Care, Protection and SwimSafe Facilities (ICBC) Project, adopting CIPRB’s proven model into state implementation. Phase I, executed by the Bangladesh Shishu Academy under the Ministry of Women and Children Affairs, concluded in December 2025. Supported by development partners Bloomberg Philanthropies and the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI), this phase reached over 200,000 toddlers through community childcare centres and graduated approximately 360,000 older children with essential survival swimming skills. Building on these milestones, the design of Phase II is now underway.

Furthermore, the National Drowning Prevention Strategy, approved by the government in 2025, provides the formal policy foundation we need. It officially recognizes drowning as a national public health, child protection, and child rights priority. The task at hand is to swiftly move this strategy from approval to active, nationwide implementation.

This mandate is made even more urgent by climate change. Escallating environmental hazards like floods, cyclones, heavy rainfall, and tidal surges continuously increase children's exposure to water risks. At the same time, severe weather disrupts childcare centres, swimming lessons, and community supervision. Initiatives like CIPRB’s Nirapode Bhasa project, supported by RNLI and the Princess Charlene of Monaco Foundation, clearly highlight these vulnerabilities. Consequently, future drowning prevention programs must be climate-smart, locally led, and resilient enough to operate during harsh weather conditions.

Bangladesh must transition completely from passive assumptions to organized, institutional action. Survival swimming, water safety, and safe rescue should be treated as non-negotiable life skills and delivered through a streamlined, coordinated government mechanism. Water will always be a defining part of Bangladesh’s life, landscape, and identity. But as we look to the future, we must ensure that for our children, living beside water no longer means living with preventable death. 

The writer is a Deputy Director, CIPRB borkatdu@gmail.com