The contribution will support implementation of lifesaving WASH interventions by UNICEF and IOM in selected refugee camps in Ukhia and Teknaf Upazilas, Cox?s Bazar district, as per each agencies? responsibility as Area Focal Agency under the WASH Sector Response. Overall, through this UNICEF-IOM joint programme 225,316 (female 117,164, male 108,152) people will gain access to safe water and sanitation services, while adopting improved individual and collective health seeking behaviours to mitigate public health risks.

The SAFE Plus project has two primary objectives: The first primary objective is to address the urgent cooking fuel needs of Rohingya refugees and host communities in Cox's Bazar, by introducing alternative clean cooking fuel and technology. The second primary objective focuses on improving economic livelihoods by rehabilitating the natural resource base while creating empowerment and livelihoods opportunities.

The present Crisis Appeal outlines IOM's response plan and associated funding requirements from March to December 2018 in line with the Joint Response Plan for Rohingya Refugees. Aside from the activities conducted in the different sectors, IOM remains actively engaged in addressing crosscutting concerns such as Protction, Gender-Based Violence (GBV) and Accountbaility to Affected Populations (AAP).

Since August 2017, an estimated 655,000 UMNs have crossed into Bangladesh fleeing violence in Myanmar’s Rakhine State, increasing the total Rohingya population in Cox’s Bazar to 867,000. New displacement sites have developed in Ukhiya, Whykong and Teknaf in Cox’s Bazar. These new arrivals have crossed the border with the bare minimum of possessions and are in dire need of food, shelter, water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) and health services.

The interventions planned with the CERF funding will provide urgent emergency health services to improve access to life-saving and comprehensive primary and secondary health services as well as to emergency sexual, reproductive, maternal, neonatal and adolescent health care. It will support the prevention of and response to outbreaks of diseases with epidemic potential and other health emergencies. Protection components will be part of the joint project specifically for persons at heightened risk of GBV through women’s empowerment and participation.

In the early hours of 25 August, violence broke out in the Rakhine state resulting in severe unrest, affecting a large number of minorities in the state. The extent and implications of the attack remain uncertain, however 429,000 people are estimated to have crossed the border since 25th August 2017 (IOM Needs and Population Monitoring, Round 5, 24 Sept 2017). New displacement sites have developed in Ukhiya, Whykong and Teknaf in Cox’s Bazar. These new arrivals have crossed the border with a bare minimum of

IOM has the necessary status and standing capacity to work with the government and corporate houses to ensure the dissemination and continuous maintenance of a comprehensive victim database which will help in ensuring the delivery of necessary services for victims who are spread across the country.

Irregular maritime migration from Bangladesh towards South East Asia has seen a steady increase over the years, with organized smuggling routes transporting people through the Bay of Bengal and Andaman Sea trying to reach South East Asian countries like Indonesia, Thailand, and Malaysia. What may have begun as a voluntary journey is transformed into a severe case of trafficking.

IOM in collaboration with Save the Children International (SCI) and the Canadian High Commission proposes to undertake a study to investigate and identify the social costs of migration on children of Bangladeshi migrant workers’ families (both internal and international migration). Specifically, the study aims to identify the impacts of migration on children at a household/community/social level; focusing on children’s safety and protection, health and well-being, education, and the right to be cared for.

The proposed project will seek to support gender and safe mobility in the region through women’s empowerment to be brought about by increased participation in safe labor migration process that mitigates potential negative effects of irregular cross-border movement. This will be initiated through a study on Gender and Safe Mobility: promising global and regional practices, which includes both the “hard” and “soft” aspects of labor migration.