Attachments
I. KEY HIGHLIGHTS
Since 2017, the sixth round of the Refugee-Influx Emergency Vulnerability Assessment (REVA) has been conducted on an annual basis by WFP and the Food Security Sector. REVA aims to monitor the food security situation and vulnerability levels of the Rohingya population living in the camps in the Ukhiya and Teknaf sub-districts of Cox’s Bazar district and the adjacent Bangladeshi community potentially affected. In 2022, the survey expanded to cover the island of Bhasan Char, where some 29,000 Rohingyas have been relocated as of December 2022.
This round of REVA was conducted from November to December 2022 and constitutes a panel survey since 2019, totalling 3,663 households in cox’s bazar including Bangladeshi and Rohingya communities was a face-to-face household interview. The sample was representative of three population strata: Registered Rohingya, Unregistered Rohingya, and Bangladeshi communities (Bangladeshis) residing adjacent to the camps in the Ukhiya and Teknaf subdistricts. For Bhasan Char, 406 households were interviewed. Altogether 4069 households were included in this survey for the year 2022.
The findings of the 2022 assessment showed that, despite the current level of humanitarian assistance, 38 percent of Rohingya households cannot afford the minimum expenditure basket (MEB). Compared to 2021, economic vulnerability has decreased among Rohingya (by 13 percent) and Bangladeshi communities (1 percent). However, if the assistance is removed, 93 percent of Rohingya would not be able to afford the MEB, showing significant dependence on humanitarian assistance for survival.
Compared to 2021, overall vulnerability remained at similar levels in 2022 among Rohingya and Bangladeshi communities, albeit still higher than in pre-pandemic years. Amidst the ripple effect of a slow recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, price hikes related to the global food crisis, and minimal livelihood opportunities, the Bangladeshi community saw increasing levels of vulnerability. For the Rohingya, 95 percent of households were found to be moderately to highly vulnerable; 15 percentage points higher since the influx in 2017. Also, the vulnerability status of Rohingya is significantly higher than Bangladeshi communities (95 percent vs 55 percent)
In 2022, the proportion of Rohingya households with inadequate food consumption (poor and borderline) fell slightly to 44 percent, compared to 45 percent in 2021, and remains higher than the pre-COVID level of 42 percent in 2019. In the Bangladeshi community, inadequate food consumption slightly decreased to 34 percent in 2022 as compared to 38 percent in 2021, though this is still a deterioration compared to 21 percent in 2019. This highlights the continued challenges Bangladeshi communities have faced in meeting their food consumption needs since the pandemic began and their slow recovery from job and livelihood losses.
Both Rohingya and Bangladeshi households are struggling to put food on the table and are frequently resorting to negative coping strategies to meet their food needs. About two-thirds of households in the camps (65 percent) and half of the households in the Bangladeshi community (55 percent) relied on less preferred or less expensive food as the most frequently used coping strategy for both populations.
The selling of food assistance by Rohingya households decreased by 6 percentage points from 23 to 17 percent from 2021 to 2022. Among households that sold food, 27 percent sold food to purchase other food items and most also used the coping strategy of relying on less preferred or less expensive food. Food remains the top-most priority for both Rohingya and Bangladeshi communities; 80 percent of Rohingya households and 57 percent of Bangladeshi community households cited the need for greater access to fresh food and the continuation of food assistance. Within the Bangladeshi community, shelter and livelihoods were the next most important needs after food. The overall situation demonstrates the importance of continued assistance and a more durable, long-term solution to address the underlying fragility of the Rohingya community in Bangladesh.
The first survey in the Bhasan Char under REVA in 2022 revealed that the Rohingya in Bhasan Char were the most vulnerable with or without assistance. The reliance on high livelihood-based coping and low percentage of households having adequate diets explained the level of vulnerability compared to the other Rohingyas in the camps.