Reducing resources has led to the second food ration cut in three months, and according to the WFP Country Director in Bangladesh, while many donors are subsidizing funding, what is being received is less than what is needed for humanitarian support.
“It is critical that we provide Rohingya families with the full assistance they deserve. The longer we wait, the more hunger we will see in the camps; we are already seeing more children being put into malnutrition programmes,” the official said.
More than 950,000 Rohingya are still stuck in refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar, southern Bangladesh, after most fled Myanmar following a genocidal military campaign in Rakhine State in 2017.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), which has been assisting refugees since the outbreak of the crisis, said food assistance provided by the World Food Program is “the only reliable source they can rely on to meet their basic food and nutrition needs”.
“But since the beginning of the year, this lifeline has been severely strained by reduced donor funding,” he said.
Besides fresh food assistance, WFP implements nutrition programs for pregnant and lactating women and children under the age of five.
Despite this additional support, vulnerable families still struggle to make ends meet.
UNHCR said the only solution to prevent the situation from deteriorating is to immediately restore full food rations to all Rohingya residents.
This year’s Humanitarian Crisis Response Plan, which requires about $875 million to reach nearly a million people in need, is only a quarter funded.
The agency warned that the effects of such cuts are particularly devastating for women and children, who make up more than 75 percent of the refugee population and face increased risks of abuse, exploitation and gender-based violence.
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