Informing humanitarians worldwide 24/7 — a service provided by UN OCHA

Bangladesh + 1 more

Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh: Situation Overview (June 2018)

Attachments

The humanitarian crisis resulting from the violence in Myanmar’s Rakhine State is causing suffering on a catastrophic scale. According to the Inter-Sector Coordination Group (ISCG) there are an estimated 915,000 Rohingya refugees in Cox’s Bazar as of 20 May 2018. Not only has the pace of new arrivals since 25 August 2017 made this the fastest growing refugee crisis in the world, the concentration of refugees in Cox’s Bazar is now amongst the densest in the world. Since September 2017, the Emergency Telecommunications Sector (ETS) Working Group has been coordinating the ICT humanitarian response on the ground.

ETS Main Activities

Upgrade and expand the UN security telecommunication network

ETS is currently upgrading and expanding the coverage of the UN Common VHF Security Telecommunication Network in the operational area. The project will allow the use of handheld and mobile radios in much broader sections (virtually the whole) of the Cox’s Bazar operational area. Following delivery of all specified equipment, deployment was started on 2 June 2018.

Status: Due to favorable weather conditions, installation work is on schedule to finish in 14 days. ETS prepared a letter to be sent via ISCG and RRRC to the GoB to request for NGO partners working in the camps to make use of our security telecommunications network and to import radio equipment accordingly.

Deploy internet connectivity for humanitarian

The ETS is deploying internet connectivity in the two logistics hubs located in Madhu Chara and Leda. The process to purchase internet connectivity equipment has been finalized.

Status: AGNI, the awarded internet service provider (ISP) finished the installation at Madhu Chara and continues installation work at Leda.

Support the intersector Accountability to Affected Population (AAP) mechanism

In collaboration with the CwC group, ETS has deployed a mobile application – ETC Connect – to be offered to humanitarian organizations. The aim of the app is to gain and sustain trust by providing effective, two-way communications channels between humanitarians and affected communities. Six organisations (WFP, BRAC, Pulse-UNICEF, Save the Children, Internews and Christian Aid) have already been trained and more organizations are interested to use the app.

Status: The process for hosting and maintaining the ETC Connect mobile application is ongoing with WFP Bangladesh. Internews will provide support to the end-users of the app including developing training material, providing training to field staff in local language, redesigning the visual of the ETC Connect web portal page and populating the FAQ section. Revision of the field level agreement by ETS and Internews is ongoing.

Expanded coverage of Radio NAF

With the financial assistance of the ETS, Radio NAF is upgrading their radio station needed to expand its coverage of the refugee camps. This project will improve the broadcast of key messages to the affected communities.

Status: Radio NAF will procure the necessary equipment and as required sent back documentation for vendor creation which will allow for payments to be made.

Information hubs

Information hubs aim to provide relevant and accurate information to Rohingya refugees. The ETS in consultation with the CwC information hubs sub-group is going to provide Internet access services, multimedia kit and dual power solutions to 40 information hubs implemented by six organizations (IFRC, IOM, UNHCR, UNICEF, IFRC, Terre des Hommes).

Status: The memoranda of understanding (MoU) signed by ACLAB/Radio NAF, Terre des Hommes and UNHCR. Signature process ongoing for IFRC, UNICEF and IOM. BBC Media Action and Danish Refugee Council are also interested in availing ETS support for their info hubs.

Emergency preparedness and response

In preparation of the monsoon season, the ETS is going to provide support to the Government of Bangladesh (GoB) through the Cox’s Bazar District Disaster Management Committee, the Cyclone Preparedness Programme (CPP) and the Refugee Relief and Repatriation Commission’s (RRRC) Camp in Charge (CiC) offices to enhance their telecommunication capacities.

Status: ETS met with the Deputy Commissioner to discuss the broader emergency preparedness programme with the Bangladesh Government involving upgrading of the Cyclone Preparedness Programme’s (CPP) radio network in the Cox’s Bazar operational area, three Emergency Operation Centers in Cox’s Bazar sadar, Ukhia and Teknaf and connectivity of the Camp in Charge (CiC) offices. ETS also met with RRRC to present the CiC draft concept note and got approval.