DHAKA: More than 200,000 Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh’s Cox’s Bazar will have safe access to water and hygiene under a new program funded by the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center.

KSrelief, the Saudi Arabian aid agency, signed a cooperation agreement with the UN’s International Organization for Migration in July to provide sustainable water and sanitation services across camps in the coastal Bangladeshi district, which has been a temporary home to most of the Rohingya who fled military violence in neighboring Myanmar.

The implementation of the $2.5 million project began on Oct. 1 and will run for 12 months, during which the IOM will install and improve critical infrastructure, including solar-powered water networks, wastewater treatment systems and washing facilities.

“More than 200,000 Rohingya are expected to benefit from the project across seven camps in Cox’s Bazar. The initiative will help improve access to safe water, cleaner sanitation facilities and better hygiene services, making everyday life safer and healthier for families living in the camps,” Dr. Laura Tomm Bonde, IOM chief of mission in Bangladesh, told Arab News.

“The project will help families access cleaner and safer facilities, maintain better hygiene practices and live in a healthier environment.”

Cox’s Bazaar hosts about 1.3 million Rohingya Muslims, who, for decades, have left Myanmar to escape persecution, especially during a military crackdown in 2017.

Their arrival has turned the eastern Bangladeshi district into the world’s largest refugee settlement.

Over the years, humanitarian conditions in the squalid camps have been deteriorating, with aid continuously declining since the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Nine years after the mass displacement of Rohingya from Myanmar in 2017, more than 1 million people continue to live in the camps in Cox’s Bazar. For many families, daily life remains difficult. Access to safe water, clean toilets and proper hygiene facilities is still a challenge, particularly in overcrowded areas where limited sanitation services can increase the risk of disease,” Bonde said.

“IOM and other humanitarian organizations, alongside the government of Bangladesh, have worked for years to provide essential services and improve living conditions. However, declining humanitarian funding is placing increasing pressure on humanitarian organizations’ ability to sustain these services.”

Especially since last year’s funding shortfall, humanitarian organizations helping Rohingya have been forced to prioritize the most urgent life-saving services and put other essential ones on hold.

The KSrelief-funded project makes a “direct difference in the lives of Rohingya communities who continue to depend on humanitarian assistance,” Bonde said.

“At a time when humanitarian funding is declining and needs remain high, such support helps sustain essential services that families rely on every day. Access to safe water, proper sanitation and hygiene facilities can protect people from disease, improve their living conditions and help them live in dignity.”

For families living in the camps, limited access to clean water and safe sanitation compromises their health and safety, with women and children being particularly vulnerable.

“I hope KSrelief’s support will help ease our water and sanitation problems,” said Babu Nesa, a 45-year-old mother of two.

“In some camps, bathrooms are quite far from where families live, which can make young girls feel unsafe and put them at risk of harassment or kidnapping. This assistance will help make it safer for them.”