The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has provided cash support to the needy people of the Chattogram Hill Tracts during the pandemic lockdown.
Over 30,000 people from 6,000 families received one-off assistance in a form of unconditional cash grant of Tk4,500 per family to improve their food consumption between May 19 to May 24, it said in a statement.
The ICRC, in collaboration with the Bangladesh Red Crescent Society (BDRCS), assisted those 85 communities as well as people living in urban areas in the three Chattogram Hill Tracts districts affected by the pandemic.
Those people were facing acute food shortages due to lack of work.
“We have been supporting both Bangali and ethnic minority communities since 2014 in partnership with the BDRCS. In times of COVID-19 pandemic, our diverse humanitarian support like cash assistance, in-kind food distribution, support to district prison authorities and preventive messaging on COVID-19 is catered to help the communities as well as complement government efforts to cope with the adapted situation,” said Field Protection Delegate of ICRC Bangladesh Laura Diskin.
Besides this support, Rangamati, Bandarban and Khagrachari district prisons have received hygiene items to tackle the spread of coronavirus among the prison population, including both detainees and prison staff alike.
