UN agencies implementing Rohingya response projects with $9m funding

Six United Nations agencies have started implementing Rohingya refugee response projects at Cox's Bazar and Bhasan Char camps following the allocation of over $9 million from the UN's Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF). 

The UN agencies, in collaboration with the government and other partners, are providing refugees with Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) cylinders, food assistance, water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) services, and protection, according to a press release of the Office of the United Nations Resident Coordinator here on Monday. 

The projects are also aimed at providing support to women, girls, and refugees with disabilities.

In November last year, the CERF allocated $9 million to six UN agencies including the UN Migration Agency (IOM), the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), the UN Population Fund (UNFPA), the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF), the UN Population Fund (UNFPA), the UN Women and the World Food Programme (WFP) to provide life-saving services to over 943,000 Rohingya residing in refugee camps in Cox's Bazar and on the island of Bhasan Char, and over 17,800 members of the host community in Ukhiya and Teknaf.

A total of 856,851 refugees in Cox's Bazar have started receiving Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) cylinders under the projects supported by IOM and UNHCR. The most vulnerable groups including women, children, elderly and refugees living with disabilities are also being given services by the agencies.

UNFPA received $250,000 to support the Sexual and Reproductive Health (SRH) and gender-based violence (GBV) integration interventions in Cox's Bazar and Bhasan Char. The main objective of the UNFPA project is to strengthen the protection and response of over 335,000 Rohingya refugee women and girls from any form of GBV. 

The UNFPA supported interventions, including procurement and distribution of reproductive health kits, commodities, medicines, and supplies such as family planning methods as well as post-rape management kits, strengthening SRH/GBV referral services, building the capacity of health workers on clinical management of GBV and intimate partner violence, facilitation of basic sexual reproductive health services within women-friendly spaces by the deployment of midwives as well as provision of GBV case management within health facilities, will be implemented by the end of this year.

UNICEF and partners are preventing and responding to the pressing child protection and GBV concerns in Bhasan Char through an integrated approach that blends service provision with community awareness and empowerment activities. Children have access to case management, psychosocial support and life skills-based learning. UNICEF will also provide water, sanitation and hygiene services for over 48,000 Rohingya refugees.

UN Women, the entity for gender equality and the empowerment of women, is enhancing access to lifesaving, essential GBV services and support among survivors and those at risk of GBV in the Rohingya refugee camps. The agency already has five multipurpose women's centres in the camps, and the CERF funding will be allocated to livelihood activities and GBV support in these multipurpose centres.

WFP is providing food and nutrition assistance to refugees through food vouchers that could be redeemed for a wide range of dry and fresh food items at WFP outlets throughout the camps. However, due to a funding shortage, WFP has no choice but to cut the voucher value from $12 per person per month to $10, from 1 March. The reduction came at a time when the entire Rohingya population remained dependent on WFP to meet their basic food and nutrition needs and malnutrition among children and women was already high, according to the media release.

The UN Resident Coordinator in Bangladesh, Gwyn Lewis has welcomed the decision of the Emergency Relief Coordinator to allocate the funds to the currently underfunded Rohingya Response to support refugees and the host community in their daily struggle for survival. 

"In consultation with the government of Bangladesh and local NGOs, the money allocated from the CERF will help protect refugees, tackle gender-based violence, and contribute to an environment respectful of refugee rights and well-being," he said.