Attachments
Highlights
- Over 1.2 million Rohingya refugees remain in highly congested settlements in Cox’s Bazar, where children face overcrowding and rising insecurity. Since January 2025, 133,651 new arrivals have further strained services. Nationally, children are impacted by recurrent health emergencies, including the ongoing dengue outbreak.
- Children need urgent nutrition support to prevent acute malnutrition, timely health care to curb disease outbreaks, protection from violence and exploitation, and safe water and sanitation. Rohingya children experience severe education disruption due to funding cuts and deteriorating learning facilities.
- UNICEF reached 563,033 people (44% of the revised HAC 2025 target) with lifesaving, multisectoral services, including treatment for 907 children with severe acute malnutrition, vaccination of 87,898 infants, and WASH support to 561,000 refugees.
- UNICEF has received $93.7 million by September 2025, leaving a $50.8 million funding gap. UNICEF urgently requires US$ 10 million to sustain critical services in the camps, particularly in Education and WASH.
Situation in Numbers
3.3 million Children in need of humanitarian assistance (UNICEF Revised HAC 2025 2 )
8.1 million People in need including Rohingya refugees and host communities. (UNICEF Revised HAC 2025)
604,728 Rohingya children require assistance. (UNHCR, 30 September 2025)
1,162,939 The total Rohingya population require assistance. (UNHCR, 30 September 2025)
Funding Overview and Partnerships
The Humanitarian Action for Children (HAC) appeal 2025 was revised in the second half of 2025 to address the changing humanitarian funding context with a focus on critical Priority 1 life-saving needs among Rohingya refugees. The revised HAC 2025 appeal seeks US$142 million to meet the critical needs of vulnerable women and children affected by multiple crises across Bangladesh, such as the protracted Rohingya refugee crisis, climate- related hazards such as floods, cyclones and public health emergencies. In partnership with the Government and Civil Society Organizations (CSOs), UNICEF continues to deliver integrated, multi-sectoral interventions in WASH, Nutrition, Education, Child Protection, Health, Social and Behavior Change (SBC), and Humanitarian Cash Transfers.
The appeal prioritizes life-saving interventions under Priority 1, emphasizing rationalized, cost-efficient, and localized delivery. It is aligned with the prioritized Joint Response Plan (JRP) 2025 for the Rohingya refugee response, and the Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP) 2024-25 for Cyclone and Monsoon Floods.
UNICEF Bangladesh expresses its sincere gratitude to all donors for the contributions received. As of September 2025, UNICEF Bangladesh has received a total US$93.7 million (64 per cent) of its revised appeal, leaving a gap of US$50.8 million (36 per cent). UNICEF thanks both public and private donors, including Australia, Denmark, the European Union (ECHO), Education Cannot Wait (ECW), GAVI, the Global Partnership for Education (GPE), Japan, Norway, the Republic of Korea, the United States Government, the United Kingdom (FCDO), UNOCHA CERF, the World Bank, and UNICEF National Committees in Australia, Germany, Japan, Switzerland, the Netherlands, and the United States, as well as local donors, for their continued support to vulnerable children, including the Rohingya refugees.
Amid a global shrinking in humanitarian funding, Bangladesh continues to require urgent and sustained support to address increasing needs among Rohingya refugees and vulnerable communities impacted by climate-related emergencies. The reduction in foreign aid and official development assistance threatens to reverse gains in child survival, health, education, WASH, and protection – placing millions at renewed risk. To meet these unmet needs, flexible and multi-year funding remains vital to safeguard children’s rights and sustain humanitarian operations across Bangladesh. UNICEF calls on all partners to renew and strengthen their commitment to ensure predictable and sustained support for the most vulnerable in Bangladesh.
Situation Overview & Humanitarian Needs
As of 30 September 2025, Bangladesh continues to host 1,162,939 Rohingya refugees3 across 33 camps in Cox’s Bazar District. This figure includes 37,056 refugees living in Bhasan Char, Noakhali District.
The overall security situation in Cox’s Bazar remains fragile, marked by cross-border tensions in the Teknaf– Naikhyongchari border areas and security incidents within the camps. Clashes were reported regularly during the reporting period between various armed groups in Myanmar, triggering new refugee arrivals.
New arrivals continue to approach UNHCR registration sites in Cox’s Bazar to undergo biometric identification, enabling them to access humanitarian assistance. As of 30 September 2025, a total of 133,651 individuals (35,187 families) completed registration since the beginning of the exercise in late 20244 . These newly- arrived individuals are receiving life-saving assistance, including food, medical care, and access to UNICEF-supported facilities.
In 2025, a total of 2,567 natural and human-induced disasters were recorded across Cox’s Bazar camps. These events affected 23,187 households and 110,659 people, including approximately 57,543 children. Among those impacted, 32 people died, 210 were injured, and 5 remain missing, while 10,671 individuals experienced secondary displacement. In Bhasan Char, 227 incidents - including fires, drowning, windstorms, and lightning - were recorded, affecting 382 households and 1,311 individuals. Among them, 175 people were injured, and nine lost their lives, including three children.
The humanitarian community continues to provide essential services under Priority 1 ring-fenced life-saving activities identified by partner agencies in Cox’s Bazar and Bhasan Char. However, children remain highly vulnerable in both the camps and host communities. They face persistent risks of water-borne disease outbreaks, malnutrition, inadequate access to health services, and limited opportunities for higher education, particularly for adolescents. Growing insecurity in and around the camps also heightens the risk of child labour, forced recruitment by armed groups, and gender-based violence (GBV), further undermining the protection and well-being of children.
Public health emergencies5 continue to pose significant risks to vulnerable populations in Bangladesh, particularly through recurrent disease outbreaks such as dengue and acute watery diarrhoea (AWD). As of 30 September 2025, a total of 46,786 dengue cases have been reported nationwide, with the cumulative number of dengue-related deaths since January 2025 being 195, higher by 180 compared to deaths recorded between January and September 2024. In the Rohingya camps, 7,960 confirmed dengue cases and six deaths were reported between January and September 2025, representing a 34.8 per cent decrease compared to 12,216 cases recorded during the same period in 2024. This reduction can be partly attributed to targeted prevention measures in the camps. The National Malaria Elimination Program (CDD, DGHS) distributed a substantial number of Long-Lasting Insecticidal Nets this year as part of dengue prevention efforts. In addition, UNICEF and other partners prioritized dengue awareness-raising activities at both health facility and community levels, contributing to improved prevention practices among camp populations.
AWD continues to impact Bangladesh, with the cumulative number of AWD cases having reached 1,667,587 as of 30th September 2025, around the same number as the cases reported in 2024. In the Rohingya camps, 89,240 AWD cases were reported between January and September 2025, 10.3 per cent lower than the 99,451 cases recorded in the corresponding period in 2024, the result of successful messaging on hygiene. Additionally, from January to September 2025, 54 cholera cases were confirmed in the Rohingya camps and one case in the host community.
During this reporting period, UNICEF reached 44% of its overall revised HAC 2025 target (71% for Rohingya response), delivering multi-sectoral services to 563,033 refugees and other populations affected by climate-related emergencies. To strengthen emergency preparedness, UNICEF has prepositioned lifesaving supplies worth US$1.42 million across the country, sufficient for up to 277,060 people in the event of an emergency. However, the HAC 2025 (revised) has a funding gap of US$ 50.8 million (36%), that requires intensified fundraising to ensure that all vulnerable women and children in need are reached with high-impact and multi-sectoral interventions.