Energy, water, sanitation for Rohingyas: Govt signs $100 million deal with World Bank

Bangladesh government has signed a $100 million grant financing agreement with the World Bank to scale up access to energy, water, sanitation services and disaster-resilient infrastructures for the Rohingya and host communities.

The additional financing to the ongoing Emergency Multi-Sector Rohingya Crisis Response Project will benefit about 780,800 people, including 140,800 local people, with better public infrastructure and will help about 365,800 people access improved water sources and 171,800 people access better sanitation, World Bank said in a release.

The agreement was signed by Md Shahabuddin Patwary, additional secretary, Economic Relations Division and Mercy Tembon on behalf of the Government of Bangladesh and the World Bank, respectively yesterday.

Since the very beginning of the crisis, the World Bank has been supporting Bangladesh respond to the needs of Rohingya people as well as the host communities, said Mercy Tembon, World Bank Country Director for Bangladesh and Bhutan.

"We recognize that the sheer magnitude of the influx placed enormous pressure on Cox's Bazar's infrastructure and provision of basic services. The additional financing will help alleviate the pressure and address the needs of the host communities as well as the Rohingya people," Tembon said.

With the additional financing, the World Bank's total commitment to the Project stands at $265 million in grants. So far, the World Bank has provided $480 million in grants to enable Bangladesh deal with the displaced population inflow, the WB said.