ADB Approves $86.7m Support For Rohingya and Host

Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh — The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has announced a new funding package of $86.7 million to strengthen essential services and infrastructure for forcibly displaced Rohingyas from Myanmar and their Bangladeshi host communities.

The financial support includes a $58.6 million grant and a $28.1 million concessional loan under the newly launched Integrated Services and Livelihood Improvement Project. The initiative targets both Cox’s Bazar and Bhasan Char, where over 1 million Rohingya refugees are currently hosted in difficult conditions.

The ADB stated that the project will focus on clean water, sanitation, road access, public safety, food distribution, and disaster preparedness. It also aims to strengthen local government capacity to manage humanitarian and development assistance, with a special emphasis on supporting vulnerable groups, especially women and children.

“In Cox’s Bazar and Bhasan Char, the project includes the installation of solar-powered streetlights, drainage system upgrades, food distribution centers, and biogas and fecal sludge management systems,” said Hoe Yun Jeong, ADB Country Director for Bangladesh.

In adjacent host communities, the project will invest in cyclone-resilient shelters, safe water supply systems, and improved road networks, enhancing resilience against both natural disasters and the pressures of hosting a large displaced population.

“This builds on ADB’s earlier commitment of $171.4 million since 2018 to support humanitarian and development responses for Rohingya and host populations,” Jeong added.

Currently, more than 1 million Rohingyas reside in 33 congested camps across Ukhiya and Teknaf in Cox’s Bazar, with over 36,000 relocated to Bhasan Char, a remote island facility in the Bay of Bengal.

The new ADB initiative comes amid growing international concern over funding shortages and deteriorating conditions in the refugee camps, where the need for sustainable development-based solutions is becoming increasingly urgent.

Rohingya Vision News