Bangladesh has signed a $50 million grant financing agreement with the World Bank to strengthen its health services in order to respond to the needs of its population of almost a million Rohingya refugees.
This additional financing to the existing Health Sector Support Project will help provide essential health and nutrition services to the Rohingya people, which will include maternal, neonatal, infant, child, and adolescent health, nutrition and psychosocial services, as well as reproductive health care, the World Bank said in a statement on Thursday.
“Nearly one million Rohingya live in congested camps, including the Kutupalong camp, the world’s largest refugee camp. They face risks of disease outbreaks and suffer from high rates of child malnutrition. Their health care needs are enormous,” said Qimiao Fan, World Bank country director for Bangladesh, Nepal, and Bhutan.
“This grant financing will help the government plan and manage health, nutrition and population services for the Rohingya people while the existing project will continue to provide healthcare to the local population.”
This is the first in a series of projects financed by the World Bank to support Bangladesh in dealing with the influx of Rohingya refugees fleeing Myanmar.
A representative of the government of Bangladesh said the country was providing shelter for Rohingya fleeing violence in Myanmar, the majority being women and children, and welcomed the World Bank support.
