Sweden to provide $7.6M in aid to Rohingya refugee camps in Bangladesh for cleaner cooking energy

Sweden to provide $7.6M in aid to Rohingya refugee camps in Bangladesh for cleaner cooking energy

Liquefied petroleum gas will be provided to 190,000 refugee households, preventing Cox's Bazar from emitting over 400,000 tons of carbon dioxide

By SM Najmus Sakib

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AA) – Sweden on Wednesday announced 79 million Swedish krona (approximately $7.56 million) in assistance for a cleaner cooking energy and environment program in refugee camps for persecuted Rohingya in Bangladesh's southeastern Cox's Bazar district.

Sweden's Ambassador to Bangladesh Alexandra Berg von Linde made the announcement following a two-day visit to the Rohingya refugee camps in Cox's Bazar, according to a UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) statement.

The assistance will help ensure cleaner cooking energy for Rohingya refugees through a UN project in Cox's Bazar, continued ecosystem rehabilitation, and the facilitation of enhanced skill development for refugees and Bangladeshi host communities.

The fund will help prevent the district from emitting more than 400,000 tons of carbon dioxide, the statement said.

Bangladesh is currently hosting over 1.2 million persecuted Rohingya who were displaced by a brutal military crackdown in Myanmar's Rakhine State in August 2017.

According to the statement, these activities are part of the Safe Access to Fuel and Energy Plus, phase 2 program (SAFE+2), a joint UN initiative involving the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the International Organization for Migration (IOM), UNHCR, and the World Food Program (WFP).

SAFE+2 was launched as a joint UN program in July 2022, building on the first phase's successes and learning, the statement said, adding that the governments of Sweden and Canada are currently supporting the program's second phase.

“As a substantial amount of forest in the Cox’s Bazar area had initially been impacted following the large Rohingya influx in 2017, it is good to see that through a programme like SAFE+2, the area around the Cox’s Bazar refugee camps has largely been regreened and reforested,” the Swedish ambassador was quoted as saying in the statement.

The fact that refugees are now cooking with cleaner energy, preserving the forest and their health, and that refugees and Bangladeshi host communities are engaging in skills development and livelihood activities in support of these environmental interventions, is a remarkable achievement, she added.

“This contribution from the Government and the people of Sweden will allow us to provide some 190,000 refugee households with Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG),” said Johannes van der Klaauw, UNHCR representative in Bangladesh, according to the statement.

“It will allow for a successful rehabilitation of the environment and ecosystems of the area and substantially reduce CO2 emissions,” he added.


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