Project: Community Partners International (Rohingya Refugee COVID-19 Response)
Year Founded: 1989 TFish Member Since: 2020 |
Description: Close to one million Rohingya refugees have sought shelter in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, making it the world’s largest refugee camp. Families here live in makeshift tarpaulin covered huts awaiting their fate to return home to Myanmar one day without the loss of life and limb. In an already dismal setting of crowded living space where the concept of social distancing holds no meaning and access to water for bathing and drinking is nowhere within the comfort of one’s home, COVID-19 poses an enormous threat to the lives of Rohingya refugees.
Seeking refuge in a country like Bangladesh with its own sets of economic and social challenges means Rohingya refugees are the last in line to get tested for COVID-19. Health facilities in the area have limited capacity to address increasing number of COVID-19 cases both in the Bangladeshi host community and the refugee camps. |
2020 Covid-19 Response Project
As an early responder to the Rohingya refugee crisis in Bangladesh since 2017, Community Partners International (CPI) has successfully trained a network of Rohingya community health volunteers who are well positioned and trusted by the community to deliver health education and services. Anam Ali, who leads CPI’s program and operations in Bangladesh, is a Pakistani American Muslim, also a Stanford graduate, who left the comforts of her home in Los Angeles a few years ago to serve refugees in war torn Syria before joining CPI in Bangladesh.
CPI initiated its COVID-19 response plan for the camps early March as soon as news of the outbreak reached our shores. Our ongoing response includes the following three pronged approach tweaked and developed over many weeks of on-the-ground assessment and communication:
OBJECTIVES
PROJECT PERIOD July 1 - December 31, 2020
CPI initiated its COVID-19 response plan for the camps early March as soon as news of the outbreak reached our shores. Our ongoing response includes the following three pronged approach tweaked and developed over many weeks of on-the-ground assessment and communication:
OBJECTIVES
- Enhance knowledge and awareness about COVID-19 among Rohingya refugees
- Increase access to and properly equip isolation and treatment centers for Rohingya refugees and Bangladeshi host community
- Increase access to home-based care for Rohingya refugees
PROJECT PERIOD July 1 - December 31, 2020