Six leading humanitarian agencies in Bangladesh have joined forces to help Bangladesh overcome the formidable challenge of Covid-19, reports BSS.
The consortium of Plan International Bangladesh, Save the Children, CARE Bangladesh, Oxfam, World Vision and Caritas Bangladesh plans to contain the spread of Covid-19 through increasing health services and improving access of vulnerable communities to water, sanitation and hygiene programmes, a joint press release said on Thursday.
It is a huge concern for vulnerable communities in Bangladesh – including the Rohingya population living in overcrowded camps and host communities in Cox’s Bazar, and the people living in the disaster-prone areas in the country.
More than 1.3 million people are in need of aid in Cox’s Bazar, including the Rohingyas and 444,000 in host communities.
Although no cases of Covid-19 have been confirmed in the camps, congested and unhygienic living conditions, limited access to clean water and hygiene materials, as well as lack of adequate health facilities have increased the potential for the rapid spread of the disease – both in the camps and in host communities.
Experts are concerned about a dual emergency, as the monsoon season approaches. Floods or cyclones combined with the emergence of deadly Covid-19 will cause a ‘crisis within a crisis’ and hasten the spread of the virus.
With the funding from the Australian government, all the six humanitarian agencies have been distinctly operating long-term development and humanitarian programmes in Bangladesh and have recently pivoted to responding to Covid-19 in the region.
The aid agencies are focused on the prevention of the disease, by raising community awareness, distributing of hygiene kits, promoting hygiene and hand washing practices, installing clean water points, distributing cash and vouchers, promoting positive parenting and special care for the elderly and persons with disability, child protection, sexual and reproductive health services and distributing Personal Protective Equipment (PPE).
To reduce the potential impact of Covid-19 in vulnerable communities, Plan International Bangladesh has allocated $530,000 AUD (BDT 29 million) to support 72,000 people, in particular – children, girls, young women, the elderly, people living with chronic illness, and people living with disabilities in Cox’s Bazar and Kurigram districts- with cash distribution, distant education, child protection, distribution of hygiene kits and PPEs, dissemination of awareness messages and also case management programme specifically in Rohingya camps.
Save the Children has planned to deliver Covid-19 response activities worth $500,000 AUD (BDT 27 million) to 47,000 Rohingya refugees and their host population including the running and staffing of seven health centres, and implementing Community Case Management programs, while CARE Bangladesh’s efforts have reached around 12,000 people under the current projects funded by the Australian government.
Oxfam has already planned to allocate around $272,000 AUD (BDT 15 million) to support 30 thousand Rohingyas in the camp during the Covid-19 outbreak.
World Vision Bangladesh has also planned to allocate $500,000 AUD (BDT 27 million) to extend Covid-19 prevention support to 26,965 Rohingyas and the host community.
Caritas allocated about $400,000 AUD (BDT 22.24 million) to conduct community awareness, distribute hand sanitizers, masks, disinfectants and PPEs; promote hand-washing facilities and hygiene practices; provide unconditional cash and support the health systems.
All six aid agencies are scaling up the activities in a three-year consortium programme of $44 million AUD supported by the Australian government and implemented through the Australian Humanitarian Partnership, which will meet the humanitarian and protection needs, the joint press release said.
