WB VP arrives Sunday to discuss Rohingya issue

World Bank vice president for South Asia region Hartwig Schafer arrives in Dhaka Sunday to discuss how to help Bangladesh cope with the Rohingya crisis.

The WB official is scheduled to visit the Rohingya camps and meet local government officials, the civil society and non-governmental organisation representatives in Cox’s Bazar.

“Despite its own challenges, Bangladesh has shown great generosity by sheltering nearly one million Rohingya people,” said Schafer.

A WB release quoted him as saying, the World Bank is working closely with the government to help address the needs of the Rohingya until their safe return to Myanmar and help build the country’s capacity to deal with the crisis

He appreciates Bangladesh’s ‘remarkable story of cutting extreme poverty to half in record time’ and said other countries can learn from Bangladesh’s many development innovations and successes.

“I look forward to meet our partners and see firsthand the country’s journey to economic growth,” said Schafer. This is his first visit to Bangladesh since assuming office on 1 July.

In Dhaka, Schafer will meet the finance minister, the water resource minister as well as the private sector and civil society leaders.

He will also join the launch of a new World Bank report, “South Asia’s Hotspots: The Impact of Temperature and Precipitation Changes on Living Standards.”

He will also visit a World Bank supported project, which is upgrading a unit in the Ghorashal power station to more than double the unit’s electricity generation capacity.

The WB release mentioned that it has mobilised up to $400 million on grant terms to help Bangladesh deal with the Rohingya crisis. It has approved the first two operations — totaling about $75 million in grants — to provide health services and education to the Rohingya, many of whom are children, youth or women.