World Bank approves $700m for 2 projects in Bangladesh to support Rohingyas, host communities

The World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors has
approved two projects totaling $700 million to provide basic services and
build disaster and social resilience for both the host communities and
displaced Rohingya population in Bangladesh.

Nearly one million Rohingya have fled violence in Myanmar to Bangladesh since
2017, making it one of the largest forced displacement crises in the world.
“We greatly appreciate the Government of Bangladesh’s generosity in
supporting nearly one million Rohingya people. We also recognize the enormous
pressure placed on the host communities,” said Abdoulaye Seck, World Bank
Country Director for Bangladesh and Bhutan.

He said, “With the crisis entering its seventh year, long-term planning and
sustainable solutions have become critical, while also addressing short-term,
urgent needs. We are fully committed to supporting the Government of
Bangladesh to address this complex crisis and support the wellbeing of both
the Rohingya and host communities.”

The $350 million Inclusive Services and Opportunities for Host Community and
Displaced Rohingya Population Project and the $350 million Host and Rohingya
Enhancement of Lives Project will together provide support to the Bangladeshi
host communities and the Rohingya people as this crisis enters its seventh
year.

The interventions supporting the Rohingya population will be financed by the
World Bank as grants under the IDA20 Window for Host Communities and
Refugees.

The Inclusive Services and Opportunities for Host Communities and Displaced
Rohingya Population (ISO) Project will build on active investments in
livelihoods and essential health, nutrition, family planning, gender-based
violence response and prevention services for at least 980,000 people in the
Rohingya and host communities.

The project will prioritize investment in human capital development, with the
aim to support the education of 300,000 Rohingya children under the age of
12.

“The protracted displacement crisis that the Government of Bangladesh is
addressing is ultimately a challenge about supporting people, whether they
are in the host community or in the displaced Rohingya population,” said S.
Amer Ahmed, World Bank Task Team Leader for the ISO Project.

“The ISO Project will be supporting vulnerable households in both
communities to invest, protect, and use their human capital through support
for temporary work, training, education, child protection, primary
healthcare, nutrition, family planning, and gender-based violence response
and prevention services.”added Amer.

The Host and Rohingya Enhancement of Lives Project (HELP) will improve access
to basic services and enhance the resilience of at least 645,000 people in
the Rohingya and host communities.

Project activities will encompass urgently needed investments in water,
sanitation, and hygiene; climate resilient roads; renewable energy; and
multi-purpose disaster shelters – underlying foundations critical to
supporting productive livelihoods.

The project will also focus on providing skills building for operations and
maintenance at both the government and community levels, aiming for a dual
benefit of infrastructure sustainability and longer-term skills development.

“Disaster and climate resilience are ever more critical as the crisis became
protracted. The Rohingya people continue to live in extremely congested
settlements and have minimal access to basic services. The host communities
are also deeply impacted, with continued additional pressure on limited
resources,” said Swarna Kazi, World Bank Task Team Leader for HELP.

“The Host and Rohingya Enhancement of Lives Project will provide key
investments to strengthen the resilience of critical infrastructure and
further work to ensure they are sustained and maintained in the medium to
long-term.” added Kazi.

Around 70 percent of the displaced Rohingya people in Bangladesh are women
and children, and half are less than 15 years of age. The two projects
recognize the differentiated impact of the crisis on women, children, and
other vulnerable groups.

Focused activities to address this include investments in gender-based
violence prevention; safely managed, gender-sensitive, and climate resilient
sanitation and hygiene facilities; solar streetlights for safety; and focused
trainings for women on community-based disaster risk management.

The two projects follow the World Bank’s support of $590 million grant since
the onset of the crisis and are underpinned by the lessons learned through
these earlier interventions, as well as learning from forced displacement
crises around the world.

The World Bank has helped the Rohingya people and host communities on
disaster preparedness, basic infrastructure, social protection, collaborative
forest management, and income generation opportunities for the host
communities.

The World Bank was among the first development partners to support Bangladesh
following its independence.

Since then, the World Bank has committed more than $40 billion in grants and
interest-free credits to Bangladesh. In recent years, Bangladesh has been
among the largest recipients of the World Bank’s interest-free credits. (BSS)