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The Financial Express

Unicef to provide $113m for Bangldeshi, Rohingya children

| Updated: March 17, 2018 09:42:06


Unicef to provide $113m for Bangldeshi, Rohingya children

Unicef will provide $113 million to meet the needs of 720,000 Bangladeshi and Rohngya children through 2018. 

The "extraordinary efforts" of the Bangladesh government, with support from the humanitarian community, brought crucial protection and relief to children and families, many of whom had escaped death, said the UN body that provides humanitarian assistance to children. 

The crisis continues - the Rohingyas are still fleeing Myanmar -- with around 500 new arrivals every week over the past month. 

The scale of immediate, basic, life-saving needs - 17 million litres of clean water -- needed every day, remains immense. 

Some 50,000 latrines are needed - of which over 28,000 are constructed and over 200,000 children are still not getting any form of education. 

"There are new and acute risks," Unicef spokesperson Marixie Mercado told reporters at a press briefing in Geneva on Friday, reports UNB. 

The response plan includes the preparedness work that is going into protecting Rohingya refugees from impending monsoon rains and potential cyclones. 

It also includes longer-terms needs - most importantly education and protection, notably psychosocial support, for children. 

"Together with partners, we have been able to reach 82,000 children between 4 and 14 years old with rudimentary learning - English, Myanmar and some maths - plus some basic life skills," said the Unicef Spokesperson. 

The plan aims to reach 270,000 children by the end of the year - a huge undertaking, but one that can spell the difference between hope and despair for every single one of those children. 

"We also plan to provide psychosocial support to 350,000 children - about 140,000 of whom we are now reaching. The need for this help, this healing, cannot be underestimated," Marixie Mercado said.

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