ADB okays $41mn grant for Rohingya in Cox’s Bazar

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) on Wednesday approved a $41.4 million grant to help improve infrastructure and manage the basic needs of displaced Rohingya from Myanmar sheltered in Cox’s Bazar.

The grant forms the second phase of ADB’s ongoing Emergency Assistance Project, a $100 million grant approved in 2018, the lender said in a news statement.

“The new assistance will strengthen the resilience against Covid-19 and any future pandemic by expanding health facilities and improving water supply and sanitation,” said ADB Country Director for Bangladesh Edimon Ginting. 

“Disaster shelter centers, health facilities, improved water supply and sanitation, and better waste management that will be provided with ADB assistance, will reduce disaster risks and serve basic human needs of the camp population until their repatriation.”

The grant approved on Wednesday will build 200 water and sanitation facilities and three solid waste management facilities, and establish a piped water supply system at Ukhiya. It will, among others, upgrade four health care facilities for severe acute respiratory infection, expand six primary health care and diagnostic centres in Teknaf, improve skills of health care workers in Cox’s Bazar district, and construct a multipurpose disaster-resilient isolation centre to help with the Covid-19 response.