Rohingya Refugee Relief Fund

The COVID-19 crisis has presented monumental challenges to communities across the world. For some of us, these challenges include working from home while juggling child care, caring for sick relatives, and coping with social isolation. 

For others, like Rohingya refugees living in camps in Bangladesh, surviving a pandemic presents even greater challenges.  Since social distancing is nearly impossible, respiratory illness is common, and day-wages are most individuals’ only source of income, overcoming the pandemic will require an enormous show of solidarity from the international community. Hundreds of individuals have been stranded in boats at sea for two months, as Malaysia and Bangladesh closed their ports to the migrants seeking to escape the difficult conditions. 

Populations already hard-hit by recent natural disasters or in the midst of ongoing humanitarian crises are disproportionately impacted by the virus. That’s why GlobalGiving launched a round of emergency grants from your generous donations to the Rohingya Refugee Relief Fund. These flexible grants reinforced local nonprofits’ ability to act quickly in delivering personal protective equipment (PPE), essential medical supplies, and food to the most vulnerable. 

Here’s a snapshot of how your contribution is keeping refugees safe while far from home:

Mending the gap in food aid

• OBAT Helpers: As the local economy remains shut down, the daily wages Rohingya refugees earn through jobs outside of the camp have dried up. Since workers can no longer depend on these low earnings to feed their families, organizations like OBAT Helpers have delivered food packages to over 1,600 families in an effort to mend the gap. 

Spreading hope through tiny miracles

• HOPE Foundation for Women and Children of Bangladesh: HOPE Foundation’s expertly-trained midwives are working around the clock to ensure the health of mothers and newborn babies in Cox’s Bazar, while also distributing PPE and masks to the wider community. Previous grants to this organization have contributed to the construction of a field hospital, which is now being activated to effectively treat residents who test positive for the coronavirus.

Sharing life-saving information

• Internews: Access to accurate, timely, and life-saving information is half of the battle in the fight against COVID-19. Faced with unreliable internet and cell service availability, Rohingya refugees are often at a disadvantage when it comes to staying informed. With the emergency grant, Internews is strengthening its efforts to deliver current news in the local language to thousands of refugees, through both radio and educational entertainment programs. 

These rapid-response grants reflect just one component of GlobalGiving’s overall response to COVID-19. Our community of donors has supported local relief efforts in more than 30 countries through our Coronavirus Relief Fund, and we have also activated a Hardship Microgrants Program to help nonprofits across the world keep the lights on during a time of great uncertainty. 

We are keeping you and the entire community of GlobalGivers in our thoughts these days, as you stay safe and keep the hope alive with your generosity. As always, thank you for contributing to a local, human-centered response to the Rohingya displacement crisis. 

In solidarity,

Andrea + the GlobalGiving Team