Due to a funding crisis, the education of approximately 230,000 Rohingya refugee children is now under serious threat, according to UNICEF.
UNICEF warned that without sustainable international financial support, all forms of assistance for Rohingya refugees are at risk—particularly the basic emergency education programs for children in the world’s largest refugee camp in Cox’s Bazar. Already, 1,179 local Bangladeshi teachers working at UNICEF-run learning centers are at risk of losing their jobs.
This information was shared during a press briefing held at the UNICEF office in Cox’s Bazar on Sunday.
Angela Kearney, Head of the UNICEF Cox’s Bazar office, stated that in recent months, funding for UNICEF's humanitarian response to the Rohingya crisis has significantly declined. This has severely affected the education of 83% of school-aged children enrolled in UNICEF-supported learning centers in the camps.
The briefing revealed that despite continuous efforts to secure new funding and restructure activities, UNICEF has been forced to make some difficult decisions due to the funding shortfall. One of these decisions includes suspending support to volunteer teachers from the host community who work with children from kindergarten through grade two. These 1,179 volunteer teachers—mainly from the local host community—will have their contracts with UNICEF terminated by June 30.
The funding crisis not only affects the Rohingya refugee camps in Bangladesh but has also jeopardized UNICEF’s humanitarian programs in other refugee camps around the world, including in Syria, Somalia, and Ethiopia.
During the briefing, UNICEF called on international agencies and donors to step up and support the ongoing humanitarian response for Rohingya refugees.
The UNICEF official further mentioned that if new funding becomes available, it would be possible to continue providing inclusive and quality education for Rohingya refugee children in Cox’s Bazar.
