EU Provides €200,000 Aid for Monsoon-Hit Chattogram

The European Union (EU) is providing €200,000 in humanitarian funding to support people affected by severe monsoon rains in Cox’s Bazar, Chattogram, Bandarban, Rangamati and Khagrachhari districts.

The funding will benefit around 125,000 Rohingya refugees as well as vulnerable host communities in some of the worst-affected areas, according to the EU Embassy in Dhaka on Friday.

The funding will support the Bangladesh Red Crescent Society in providing emergency shelter materials and rebuilding damaged shelters.

It will also help repair essential water and sanitation facilities, distribute seeds and gardening supplies, and provide cash assistance to affected families.

Women, girls and others facing heightened protection risks will receive dignity items, information and referral support.

The operation will also help restore landslide protection through cash-for-work programmes.

Affected communities will receive additional training to strengthen their preparedness for floods, landslides and other emergencies in the future.

The funding is part of the EU’s overall contribution to the Disaster Response Emergency Fund (DREF) of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC).

Since July 5, intense rainfall linked to a monsoon depression has triggered flooding and landslides across Chattogram Division.

As of July 13, more than 1.1 million people had been affected, while 30 people had died and more than 38,000 had been displaced.

The heavy rains damaged shelters, water and sanitation facilities, access routes and other essential infrastructure in Rohingya refugee camps and surrounding host communities.

In the camps alone, more than 4,300 shelters and hundreds of water and sanitation facilities were reported damaged.

The EU said it and its member states are the world’s leading donors of humanitarian aid, describing relief assistance as an expression of European solidarity with people affected by crises around the world.