Bangladesh - The International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the Government of Bangladesh today (8 January) signed a project agreement to provide  health, water, sanitation and hygiene services and related information materials in two districts of Cox’s Bazar.

The Government’s endorsement of the three-year, USD 18 million project, allows IOM to provide much needed humanitarian assistance to Undocumented Myanmar Nationals and vulnerable host communities in the coastal city located at the south-eastern tip of Bangladesh bordering Myanmar.

The project will improve access to primary and secondary health care in the target districts through mobile medical teams, strengthened government health services and improved health referrals. It will strengthen the water and sanitation infrastructure in the district by providing deep tube wells and latrines in the makeshift settlements and underserved host communities. Community outreach around key health and hygiene issues will ensure better overall health for over 100,000 vulnerable people.

It will also support the Government of Bangladesh in coordinating the overall provision of humanitarian services for Undocumented Myanmar Nationals living in the area. The three-year project is currently supported by the American, British and Swedish Governments.

“This intervention has been carefully planned and supports the Government of Bangladesh’s National Strategy on Myanmar Refugees and Undocumented Myanmar Nationals and the local population,” said Sarat Dash, IOM’s Chief of Mission in Bangladesh. “This support is very significant and we thank the Government and the international community for their faith in IOM to provide  sustained humanitarian assistance.”

For more information please contact

Sarat Dash

IOM Bangladesh

Email: sdash@iom.int