The government of Bangladesh on Wednesday signed a $165 million grant financing agreement with the World Bank (WB) to provide basic services and build disaster and social resilience for the Rohingya who have fled to Cox’s Bazar escaping violence in Myanmar. To help Bangladesh deal with the world’s fastest growing exodus, the Emergency Multi-Sector Rohingya Crisis Response Project will build 53 multi-purpose disaster shelters in and around the camps; pave more than 200 km of roads; provide water and sanitation services for around 200,000 people; and set up 1,500 solar street lights, said a press release on Wednesday.
The project will also strengthen emergency response services, provide community works and services, and prevent gender-based violence. “The government and people of Bangladesh have generously provided shelter to about a million Rohingya refugees but the needs of both the Rohingya and the host community are huge,” said Dandan Chen, WB Acting Country Director for Bangladesh and Bhutan.
“This project addresses the current refugee crisis but goes further to help strengthen the government’s overall capacity to plan, coordinate and respond to emergencies.” More than half of the Rohingya population are women and girls and many were exposed to gender-based violence before coming to Bangladesh.
The services delivered under the project will focus on women and children as key beneficiaries and will include measures to prevent gender-based violence.
The project will build gender-friendly public spaces. All facilities including water and sanitation facilities and cyclone shelters will cater to the needs of women, children and disabled individuals. The street lights will improve the safety for women.
“Under the leadership of the Prime Minister, the Bangladesh government has provided shelter to the Forcibly Displaced Rohingya Population (FDRP). But, this has placed enormous strain on our resources and infrastructure,” said Monowar Ahmed, Secretary, Economic Relations Division, Government of Bangladesh.
“We are happy that the WB has joined hands with grant support to build disaster resilience and basic infrastructure and improve service delivery for FDRP.”
The agreement was signed by Monowar Ahmed and Dandan Chen on behalf of the government and the World Bank, respectively, at the Economic Relations Division.
This is the third in a series of planned financings of approximately half a billion dollars announced by the WB in June 2018. Earlier the WB has committed a $75 million grant that includes a $13 million grant from Canada, to provide for the health and learning needs of the Rohingya. The WB is helping the host communities with about $200 million support in Cox’s Bazar through ongoing projects:
disaster preparedness including building and rehabilitating cyclone shelters; basic infrastructures and governance in union parishads, pourashabhas, and municipal areas; social protection and safety net programs; and collaborative forest management and income generation opportunities for the host communities. The WB was among the first development partners to support Bangladesh following its independence. Since then, the WB has committed more than $30 billion in grants and interest-free credits to Bangladesh.