Funding gaps in joint response plan for Rohingyas concern UNHCR

News Desk :
UNHCR, the UN refugee agency, together with the Bangladesh government will soon launch the Joint Response Plan for 2023 to appeal to donor partners for funding to meet the needs of Rohingyas in Bangladesh and the local communities hosting them here.
“We shall appeal for approximately $876 million in all relevant sectors, of which some $67 million would be required for our operations on Bhasan Char,” Johannes van der Klaauw, UNHCR Representative in Bangladesh, told UNB in an exclusive interview, reports UNB.
As in the past, he said, they do not expect this budget to be funded to the full, but the gap is expected to be much larger in the coming year.
“We therefore need to redouble our efforts to mobilize resources and notably development funding, to be used in a flexible manner, as humanitarian aid budgets are no longer available,” said the senior UN official.
At the same time, Klaauw said, they are prioritizing funding needs more than before – focusing on the most vulnerable and addressing the most critical gaps.
UNHCR continues to appeal for further investments by the international community in refugees’ education and skills development, including vocational training and other forms of capacity-building for adolescent and adult refugees, and opportunities to put the acquired learning and skills into practice through livelihood projects.
Rohingya refugees should be allowed to become self-reliant, to purchase part of their daily food, cooking gas, household items, as general distribution of these commodities will no longer be possible as a result of a reduction in financial support from the international community, said Klaauw
who leads UNHCR’s response for the Rohingya refugees hosted in the country. This will allow the refugees to support their communities and live with dignity while in exile in Bangladesh, and above all to prepare them for rebuilding their lives when they can voluntarily and safely return to Myanmar, he said.
The Joint Response Plan 2023 will appeal to the international community to renew its sustained support for Rohingya refugees and the Bangladeshi communities generously hosting them.
The plan aims to support approximately 1.47 million people, including 978,000 Rohingya refugees in Cox’s Bazar and Bhasan Char, and around 495,000 Bangladeshis in the localities, Klaauw said. Under the leadership of the Bangladeshi authorities, the joint response will bring together the activities of the partners, of which more than half are Bangladeshi organizations.
The plan focuses on strengthening the protection and safety of refugee women, men, girls and boys, notably the most vulnerable among them, such as persons with disabilities or victims of trauma and violence, Klaauw said.
It aims to maintain and enhance lifesaving and life-sustaining humanitarian assistance and services for Rohingya, by providing decent shelter and access to food, health, water, sanitation, and hygiene services.
The plan also supports humanitarian projects in the surrounding host communities as the social, economic conditions and the environment have been impacted by the presence of the Rohingya refugees.
Furthermore, Klaauw said, the plan aims at strengthening the Rohingya and host communities’ capacities to protect them from, and timely and effectively respond to the disasters caused by recurrent monsoon rains, cyclones and landslides, as well as the effects of climate change.
And finally, he said, the overarching goal of the plan remains to prepare the Rohingyas for voluntary and sustainable return with safety and dignity to the Rakhine State in Myanmar, their homeland.
“As we have moved into a protracted refugee situation, six years into the latest influx, we need to focus on making the response more sustainable by scaling up skills development and access to livelihoods for Rohingya refugees, so they can support their communities,” said the UNHCR representative.