The main purpose of this study was to clarify the role of social innovation for women’s empowerment in disaster risk governance by focusing on common interest groups (CIG) in the haor area of Bangladesh.　We conducted key informant interviews (KII), a case study, and focus group discussions (FGD) with various stakeholders of Itna Union in the Kishoreganj District of Bangladesh to verify the following hypothesis.　“CIG is an effective approach to empower women in poverty reduction and disaster risk governance through the creation of social innovation” (H1).　The results clarified that socio-political transformation for the empowerment of women through the CIG approach is weak in the region even though change has begun.　Thus, policy implications based on the analytical results suggest that the government should pay more attention to social innovation to reduce poverty and empower women in disaster risk governance while introducing a CIG approach.

JEL Classifications:J16, Q54