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Bangladesh + 1 more

Humanitarian programme in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh - Activity Update - 23 December 2017

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What you need to know today

  • A total of 655,000 forcibly-displaced Myanmar nationals have entered Bangladesh since 25 August (Source: ISCG report, 21 December)

  • BRAC's total coverage (based on sanitation) is 563,400 people with installation of 14,085 latrines (104 today). BRAC ensures access to safe water for 366,840 people through 1,265 shallow tube wells, 83 deep tube wells and three ring wells. 3,735 bathing cubicles were set up (53 today); especially for women and adolescent girls. A total of 3,378 latrines have been de-sludged (157 today) and made functional for reusing. 773 latrines have been decommissioned. A total of 37,116 hygiene sessions have been conducted.

  • BRAC's 10 primary health centers and 50 satellite clinics have provided 638,108 services (7,178 patients today). 78,456 cases of pneumonia (976 today) and 81,051 cases of diarrhoea have been treated (916 today). BRAC has helped to deliver 398 babies so far and five of them were born today.

  • BRAC helped to vaccinate 14,393 children during the immunisation campaign against diphtheria. 180 BRAC volunteers were involved in bringing 82,096 children to government vaccination centres. BRAC has identified 394 diphtheria cases (13 today) and referred for isolation. 279 health workers and 1,129 programme staff have been trained to handle diphtheria cases. BRAC health workers have counseled 14,511 people on diphtheria (1,760 today) and a total of 906 hand washing points have been installed.

  • 208,319 blankets and 250,299 sets of clothes have been distributed; especially children and elderly people for protection against cold weather.

  • Some 35,829 children received recreational support through 213 child friendly spaces (CFS).

  • 15,855 children have access to 151 learning centres and 300 teachers have been assigned to guide them.

  • 61,711 household visits to disseminate life saving messages have been completed (16,191 today) by community mobilisation volunteers. So far, orientation training of 800 volunteers and 107 staff has been completed.

KEY CHALLENGES

Community’s resistance

Sometimes local mosques show resistance towards the child friendly space activities. Thus, influential members of the community itself, such as religious leaders (imams), need to be engaged in productive discussion to increase understanding of the necessity of these activities. Active community membership and productive engagement in child protection committees can also play a significant role in opening the mindsets of the people.

Access to market

Rice is availed as a relief item; however, other food items (protein or vegetables) need to acquired to ensure a balanced diet. Although many FDMNs have cash, they are unable to purchase these additional items as the markets places are far from settlement and are hard to access. Another problem is that women do not have a way to earn money, as their skills may be limited to what they can produce (e.g. sew clothes and sell) and also being unable to utilise the local markets.