UNHCR handed over to the Minister of Health a newly constructed Outpatient Department for Sadar Hospital on 12 January.
It will provide specialised healthcare services including surgeries, orthopedics, cardiology, dental, maternal and pediatric care.
HIGHLIGHTS OF THE MONTH
UN Special Rapporteur (SR) on the human rights of migrants, Felipe González Morales, visited the refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar on 26 January. During the visit, the SR visited a learning centre and heard from adolescents, before joining a group of volunteers at a community centre to discuss their experiences in volunteering in site management and safety units, as well as paralegal, and community outreach.
Water rationing at Teknaf Camps was a key discussion point during a meeting with all WASH partners, Site Management Support, camp leaders and UNHCR WASH and Field & Site Management with presence of the Camp-in-Charge. The main outcome was the decision to supply 15 liters of water per person per day, instead of 20 liters, effective from 15 January to mitigate the crisis during this drought period.
UNHCR and its partners enrolled 900 adolescent girls and their caregivers in the first cycle of the 2023 Girl Shine Program. The program aims to engage the community in discussions around adolescent girls, gender norms, women's safety and empowerment, positive parenting, and unequal power relations.
Community Outreach Member volunteers conducted over 24,500 refugee home visits, identifying close to 4,000 persons with specific needs, and making more than 1,100 referrals for further protection support and intervention.
Fifty-seven UNHCR registration staff were trained on interviewing persons with disability (PWD), particularly on the use of the Washington Group questionnaires to identify PWD and promote more accurate disability data recording.
Vocational skills training started in 14 camps, following the approval of the Skills Development Framework by the Government of Bangladesh. UNHCR and partners targeted over 650 youth refugees (with 65% female participation) to build resilience by investing in vocational technical skills. Participants will receive 360 hours of skills-training in either sewing machine operation, community health, or agricultural production.
To prevent the spread of acute watery diarrhoea (AWD), dengue and scabies, UNHCR’s hygiene promotion teams continued to scale-up community engagement, reaching over 99,000 people through community dialogue and door-to-door home visits.
In January UNHCR and partners distributed 117 new LPG sets, and over 75,400 LPG refills.
UNHCR completed the installation of lightning rods in 83 newly constructed Elephant Watch Towers (EWT), as a safety measure to protect the EWT occupants from lightning strikes.
The Sustainable Land Management and Environmental Restoration (SuLMER) project has restored over 600 meters of stream through nature-based solutions of stream excavation, bank protection, slope stabilization, revegetation, and plant-based water treatment; benefitting hundreds of families that now experience a safer, healthier and habitable environment.
BHASAN CHAR: The 19 th relocation from Cox’s Bazar to Bhasan Char consisting of 320 individuals was facilitated by the Government of Bangladesh. UNHCR coordinated and provided regular core relief items for the newly relocated group.
A new digital X-ray machine has been installed in the 20-bed hospital, improving access to health services on the island.
Source: UN High Commissioner for Refugees