FE Report
The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Host and Impacted Community Resilience Activity to improve the livelihoods of Bangladeshis, affected by the Rohingya refugee crisis in Cox's Bazar and the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT), was launched on Monday.
Adviser for Environment, Forest and Climate Change Syeda Rizwana Hasan was present in the launching ceremony as the chief guest. US Embassy Chargé d'affaires Tracey Jacobson and USAID senior officials were also present.
Implemented by a local organisation, Friends in Village Development Bangladesh (FIVDB), the five-year programme will provide job skills training and economic opportunities, improve access to safe drinking water and proper sanitation and hygiene, and prepare the host communities to better mitigate the effects of natural disasters.
The initiative will also bring the host and impacted communities together with the local authorities to protect over 35,000 hectares of land and conserve the area's precious natural resources.
Addressing the programme, Ms Rizwana stressed the need for providing larger market access to the hilly people.
She pointed out that the areas rich with natural resources, like Cox's Bazar and the CHT districts, should actually be seen not as areas of troubles, but as areas full of potentials.
"Regrettably, over the decades, we have turned these areas into areas of conflict and problems because of different interventions and geopolitics," she added.
In her speech, Ms Jacobson said, "Developing sustainable solutions requires us to work together and leverage local expertise to lead the way. This is why we are bringing together partners from the government, business and civil society, and most importantly community members, and equipping them with the skills and resources they need to build a brighter and more prosperous future for themselves."
The new programme is based on the US government's support for the host communities in Bangladesh - as part of more than US$2.5 billion in assistance for the regional Rohingya response since August 2017. It includes more than $2.1 billion of support for the refugees and the host and impacted communities in Bangladesh, she mentioned.
Under the new initiative, FIVDB will lead a consortium of partners, comprised of Nature Conservation Management (NACOM), DevWorks International, Helen Keller International, Christian Aid, and International Initiative for Impact Evaluation, alongside the local organisations from the CHT, including ANANDO, ASHIKA Development Associates, and Bolipara Nari Kalyan Somity, to implement the activities.
The new USAID activity of $70,198,757 will apply a multi-sectoral approach. It will support inclusive market systems; resilience; women's empowerment; social inclusion; access to income; access to water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) services; and climate adaptation.
Optimising local capacities, the initiative will increase impacts through creation of linkages, promotion of collaboration, and leveraging of resources among the government, civil society, private sector, and community-based stakeholders.
Cox's Bazar and the three CHT districts are among the lowest ranked in Bangladesh for education, skill training, food security, poverty, and agricultural productivity. The situation has worsened since 2017 with the influx of Rohingya refugees, which has put enormous pressure on the local economy, resulting in loss of livelihoods, depressed local wages, increased food insecurity, and distorted local market systems, a presentation on the project said.
© 2025 - All Rights with The Financial Express
