Photo: UNHCR
Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh (BBN) – The US is providing $6 million to the UN World Food Program (WFP) to address the Rohingya crisis in Bangladesh.
The funding is in addition to the $1 million provided to WFP earlier this year, said a press statement of the US Dhaka office today.
“Today we are pleased to announce that the United States, through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), is providing an additional $6 million to the UN World Food Program (WFP) to address the Rohingya crisis in Bangladesh,” stated the press statement.
The assistance will support food distributions as well as the needed logistics to provide humanitarian assistance, it added.
CDC staff from Washington DC, with expertise in refugee health and public health crisis management, will be engaged for several weeks in refugee camp health assessments, strategies for reducing disease risks, and the establishment of health information and management systems.
The recent funding to WFP complements assistance announced by the United States on September 20, which included $28 million in assistance to Rohingya refugees and host communities in Bangladesh.
This new funding brings US humanitarian assistance to Rohingya in the region to approximately $101 million in Fiscal Year 2017.
In 2017, the US government, through USAID, has provided over $212 million in development assistance to Bangladesh.
In Cox’s Bazar, USAID helps improve the lives of Bangladeshis, including those in communities hosting refugees, through programs that expand economic opportunity, advance health and education, and ensure human rights and practices.
Examples of this assistance include services for victims of trafficking, cyclone shelters, and support for Smiling Sun Clinics.
The United States Center for Disease Control (CDC) and USAID have been partnering with the Ministry of Health and ICDDR,B to strengthen Bangladesh's capacity to respond to public health events and disease outbreaks.
CDC is also providing technical assistance to the Ministry of Health and the IOM and other partners on the management of the public health aspects of the Rohingya crisis.
BBN/SS/AD