The European Union provides €200 000 in response to monsoon rain in Chattogram Division

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, Bangladesh. This funding will benefit 125,000 Rohingya refugees as well as vulnerable host communities in some of the most affected areas. 

This EU funding will support the Bangladesh Red Crescent Society in providing emergency shelter materials, rebuilding damaged shelters. It will also help to repair essential water and sanitation facilities, provide seeds and gardening supplies, and give 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 restore landslide protection through cash-for-work. Communities impacted by the heavy rains will receive further training to better empower them to be more prepare for floods, landslides and other emergencies in 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 5 July, intense rainfall linked to a monsoon depression triggered flooding and landslides in Chattogram Division. As of 13 July, over 1.1 million people were affected. Thirty people had died and more than 38,000 had been displaced. The rains damaged shelters, water and sanitation facilities, access routes and other essential infrastructure in the Rohingya refugee camps and surrounding host communities. In the camps alone, over 4,300 shelters and hundreds of water and sanitation facilities were reported damaged. 

Background 

The EU and its Member States are the world's leading donor of humanitarian aid. Relief assistance is an expression of European solidarity with people in need all around the world. It aims to save lives, prevent and alleviate human suffering, and safeguard the integrity and human dignity of populations affected by natural disasters and man-made crises. 

Through its Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations department, the EU helps millions of victims of conflict and disasters every year. With headquarters in Brussels and a global network of field offices, the European Union provides assistance to the most vulnerable people on the basis of humanitarian needs.

The EU is signatory to a €12 million humanitarian delegation agreement with the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) to support the Federation's Disaster Response Emergency Fund (DREF). The Disaster Response Emergency Fund was established in 1979 and is supported by contributions from donors. Each time a National Red Cross or Red Crescent Society needs immediate financial support to respond to a disaster, it can request funds from the DREF, which can then be replenished by the donors.