World Bank President Jim Yong Kim has arrived in Dhaka on a two-day visit.
The WB chief landed in the city’s Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport by an Emirates Airlines flight on Saturday evening.
WB Dhak office spokesperson told Bangla Tribune that Kim will stay at Hotel Radisson
The UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres is also due to arrive here early Sunday.
The WB President and the UN Secretary General will visit the Rohingya settlements in Cox’s Bazar and meet with the Prime Minister, Finance Minister, other senior government officials, and representatives of civil society and other partners. They will assess the severity of the crisis and discuss what more can be done.
“Bangladesh has shown great leadership in this evolving humanitarian crisis by providing refuge for the Rohingya people. This grant allows the World Bank Group, working in collaboration with the Government of Canada, to support these efforts,” WB Kim said in a statement on Thursday.
“We are deeply moved by the suffering of the Rohingya people and stand ready to help them until they can return home in a safe, voluntary, and dignified manner. At the same time, we are also continuing to support the Bangladeshi people and the host communities, who have shown great generosity by welcoming these refugees.”
In addition to health challenges facing the Rohingya, the learning needs of highly vulnerable refugee youth and children are emerging as another priority. Approximately 370,000 children and youth (55 percent of the total displaced Rohingya population) need access to schooling.
An additional grant to the education project, currently under preparation, will provide basic education and psycho-social support to refugee children and youth.
The subsequent proposed investments will be in the areas of disaster risk management, water and sanitation, environmental protection and conservation, social protection, urban services, and social cohesion and gender.
Since August last year, more than 700,000 Rohingya have taken shelter from violence in Myanmar in the Cox’s Bazar District in Bangladesh, making it the world’s largest and fastest growing refugee camp, and putting pressure on the environment, existing infrastructure, and social services that were already constrained.
The World Bank funding for Bangladesh to cope with the crisis will include up to $400 million on grant terms to support the Rohingya refugees from the IDA18 Regional Sub-window for Refugees and Host Communities.
Meanwhile, President of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) Peter Maurer has also arrived in the city on Saturday afternoon on three-day visit to see ICRC’s work in Rohingya camps in Cox’s Bazar.
Maurer will meet with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina apart from his meetings at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Home Affairs.
