IRUSA’s work in Bangladesh
by Zana Sahyouni, IRUSA Communications Specialist
On March 5, 2023, a devastating fire broke out at Camp 11 in Cox’s Bazar, where over one million Rohingya refugees reside. The fire displaced 12,000 refugees — most who had fled a military- led crackdown in Myanmar in 2017. Thousands of shelters were lost in the flames and many facilities were damaged including hospitals, water networks, mosques, and learning centers.
Immediately after, IRUSA launched an emergency response, where staff participated in joint needs assessments with emergency agencies. Our teams also provided aid to displaced people by rebuilding homes and WASH facilities such as latrines and bathing cubicles. A total of 1,073 affected households in Camp 11 received emergency shelter packages and technical support to install emergency shelters.
Now in 2024, approximately 4million people have been impacted by flooding that broke out on August 22, with many stranded and seeking evacuation in shelters.
IRUSA is still distributing aid in Bangladesh and has not stopped alleviating the severe impacts of poverty, natural disasters, and climate change.
Read about some of the work we’ve done this year alone:
IRUSA launched their Scaling-up Inclusive Climate Resilience of Vulnerable Communities through Locally Led Adaptation (ICRA) project, which helps families build resilience through financial empowerment.
Aklima, 43, is one of the many women in the program that was able to establish financial empowerment thanks to your donations.
After her husband fell seriously ill at the end of 2023, Aklima and her husband had to spend all their small savings on life-saving medications for him. Since he could no longer work, and all of their savings had diminished, she reached out to her uncle to borrow money to buy food for her family. Unfortunately, her uncle did not have any money to give at this moment, but he offered to help her borrow money from someone else with a high interest rate.
After feeling frustrated and defeated, Aklima reached out to IRUSA’s ICRA project. Upon learning about her situation, they provided her with 2,000 BDT ($16.73), and offered her a loan for her husband’s treatments.
Aklima was able to pay back the loan without interest, which immensely helped her situation. It helped increase her resilience capacity in any emergency, while upholding her dignity.
Her story is one of many, thanks to your donations. Your donations are what makes any of this possible. Without your support, efforts like this could not continue. Please continue to support the people of Bangladesh by donating now.
