Denmark continues support for Rohingya refugees and host community in Cox’s Bazar

The Danish Government has contributed an additional sixteen million Danish kronor (USD 2.35 million) to the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) in order to meet the urgent food needs of Rohingya refugees and host communities.

“Denmark highly appreciates the generosity of the Government of Bangladesh during this humanitarian crisis and acknowledges the huge burden this places on the host country. Denmark is committed to continue its support to the Government of Bangladesh, the Rohingya refugees, and the host communities” the Danish Ambassador to Bangladesh said and added that she is impressed by WFP’s efforts to ensure vital food assistance to such a large population in a challenging environment,” said a press release of the UN World Food Programme (WFP).

“Among the 900,000 or so refugees living in Cox’s Bazar, 80 per cent of them are entirely dependent on WFP’s food assistance to survive. This timely funding from the Danish Government will help us support the most vulnerable children and women living in the camps,” said WFP Representative in Bangladesh, Richard Ragan. “This funding will also contribute to the livelihoods of people from the host community through our livelihoods programme which empowers the women of Cox’s Bazar by providing cash grants and entrepreneurial training so they can start their own businesses,” said the release.

Cox’s Bazar has been one of WFP’s largest operations in Asia since August 2017 when more than 745,000 Rohingya refugees began fleeing violence in Myanmar. They joined almost 200,000 refugees who were already living in Cox’s Bazar having fled previously.

The release added that the total Danish contribution to this crisis since August 2017 amounts to 338 million DKK (52 mil USD approximately) and the Danish government was one of the first donors to support WFP in meeting the urgent humanitarian needs of the Rohingya refugees. The remarkable Danish contribution enabled WFP to support emergency malnutrition treatment and prevention programmes, provided life-saving food assistance, and assisted children with locally-produced micronutrient fortified biscuits in learning centres in the camps.