Help Rohingya refugees accessing wash facilities  

Overview of Needs

Due to the massive population increase following the influx of Rohingya refugees into Cox’s Bazar, WASH facilities in settlements are under immense strain. In spontaneous settlements, there is limited access to water and sanitation facilities, increasing the risk of an outbreak of disease. Across all sites, poor sanitation conditions pose a serious public health hazard.

The focus of the WASH sector at this stage of the emergency is to ensure access to potable water, access to sanitation (latrines) and hygiene promotion including distribution of WASH NFI. While initial analysis indicates that tube wells are

not contaminated, despite the proximity of latrines, contamination at the household is of great concern. Households are using unprotected water sources due to the long distances to hand pumps and the immediate needs to distribute WASH NFI Kits.

The sector is not advocating for household water treatment due to the ineffectiveness of this activity based on experiences in services similar populations in Rakhine State in Myanmar.

Based on field observations, the current rate of construction for latrines does match the rate at which they are becoming full and therefore unusable. Lack of access to many areas in the camps hampers the capacity of de-sludge latrines. Additionally, there is insufficient capacity in terms of land allocated to receive sludge that is being removed from the camps. The sector is currently looking at technical solutions to address the problem of sludge management; to date, a wastewater treatment plant is the only viable alternative to avoid potential contamination of the aquifer. There is also an urgent need to decongest settlements as soon as possible to avoid a potential outbreak of diseases.

Gender, Age and Disability

To integrate a gender, age and disability perspective into WASH programs, organizations will endeavour to: disaggregate data by sex and age, seek gender balanced WASH staff, design WASH systems to meet needs of all and ensure equal access for women,

girls, boys and men, ensure equal participation of women and men in the design, implementation and evaluation of WASH programs, train equal numbers of women and men and ensure distribution of menstrual hygiene materials.

Donate to:

250 USD For latrine and shower

1500 USD For Deepwater well

3 USD For Drinking water

24 USD for hygiene kit