The Rohingya refugee crisis, one of the largest humanitarian emergencies in recent years, has created enormous challenges in Bangladesh, especially in Cox’s Bazar, where over 900,000 refugees are hosted. The influx of refugees from Myanmar has put significant pressure on resources, infrastructure, and services in both refugee camps and host communities. In response, consortium-based interventions have become a vital strategy, allowing multiple organizations to pool resources, expertise, and efforts to address the multifaceted needs of the affected populations, especially in Health, Shelter, Education, Food, Livelihood, Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) and Protection sectors.
Context of the Crisis and Consortium Approach
The Rohingya refugees arrived in Bangladesh following waves of violence and persecution in Myanmar, particularly after August 2017. The humanitarian needs, especially regarding basic services like water, sanitation, protection, and health, are immense due to the dense population of the camps and the vulnerable state of the refugees. The host communities in Cox’s Bazar, who are already facing socio-economic challenges, have also been significantly affected, resulting in tension between the two groups over resources and services.
A consortium approach has been essential in dealing with such a large-scale emergency. The approach involves multiple international and national NGOs working together under a shared objective while leveraging their respective strengths. The focus is on ensuring effective coordination, avoiding duplication, and optimizing resources to maximize impact. This method aligns with the comprehensive strategy adopted by the Government of Bangladesh and international organizations, including the UN, to manage the crisis.
Key Sectors of Consortium Interventions:
1. WASH (Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene)
Access to clean water, adequate sanitation facilities, and hygiene promotion has been critical to prevent the outbreak of waterborne diseases in the overcrowded camps. Consortium projects in the WASH sector have worked on several key areas:
- Water Supply: Consortium partners have constructed and rehabilitated tube wells and installed water purification systems to ensure continuous access to safe drinking water.
- Sanitation: Building latrines, waste management systems, and drainage channels to mitigate the risk of flooding and unsanitary conditions, especially during the monsoon season, has been a major focus.
- Hygiene Promotion: Through coordinated hygiene awareness campaigns, the consortiums have worked to promote hygiene practices such as handwashing, menstrual hygiene management, and proper waste disposal, both in refugee camps and host communities.
2. Protection
Protection needs in the camps are multifaceted, including protection against gender-based violence (GBV), child protection, and ensuring the safety of vulnerable groups such as women, children, and the elderly.
- Gender-Based Violence (GBV) Prevention: Consortium members have set up women-friendly spaces, safe houses, and have implemented psychosocial support programs to help survivors of violence. Training and capacity-building initiatives targeting local communities and authorities have been carried out to ensure a robust response to GBV cases.
- Child Protection: Child-friendly spaces, educational programs, and child protection monitoring systems have been established to safeguard the rights of refugee children and ensure they have access to safe environments.
- Community-Based Protection: Involving the refugee and host communities in identifying protection risks and working together to mitigate them has been an essential part of the approach. Community protection groups have been established, ensuring refugees’ voices are heard and addressed.
3. Health
In the Rohingya response, consortiums coordinate efforts in the health sector by integrating various healthcare services. Partners work together to establish clinics, mobile health units, and mental health support. Key activities include immunization campaigns, maternal care, disease surveillance, and emergency response. Collaborative efforts also focus on training healthcare workers and ensuring the delivery of essential medical supplies.
4. Education
Consortiums collaborate to provide educational services through temporary learning centers, informal schooling, and psychosocial support for children. By working with local authorities, NGOs, and international partners, they aim to integrate education with life skills training and psychosocial support, offering education to both refugee and host community children. They ensure curriculum alignment with national standards and focus on teacher training.
5. Shelter
In shelter coordination, consortiums work on building durable shelters and providing emergency shelter kits. Coordination involves planning according to geographic zones, ensuring that refugees receive timely assistance with materials like tarps, bamboo, and housing construction guidance. They also focus on disaster risk reduction, making shelters more resilient to floods and landslides.
6. Food and Nutrition
Food security and nutrition programs, coordinated by consortiums, include regular food distributions, supplementary feeding programs for malnourished children, and nutritional counseling. Collaboration with the World Food Programme (WFP) and other actors ensures efficient food supply chains and distribution points, along with monitoring food security trends.
7. Livelihood
Livelihood programs involve skill-building activities, vocational training, and income-generating projects for both refugees and host communities. Consortium partners engage in market assessments, capacity building, and offering small grants to support economic self-reliance. Coordination focuses on balancing short-term cash-for-work initiatives with longer-term employment strategies to help refugees integrate economically.
In these sectors, consortiums ensure integrated service delivery, leveraging each partner’s strengths to maximize impact and avoid duplication of efforts.
Benefits of the Consortium Model
The consortium approach allows for greater coordination between organizations, ensuring that gaps are filled, and duplications are avoided. Each partner brings in unique expertise, whether technical (WASH, protection, education, health, shelter, food, nutrition etc.), geographical coverage, or relationships with stakeholders such as local governments and communities. For example, one organization may lead the technical implementation of water systems, while another may focus on community engagement and hygiene promotion.
Through shared planning, monitoring, and evaluation frameworks, the consortiums are able to ensure that program activities are harmonized. Joint monitoring efforts help in tracking the effectiveness of interventions, ensuring that feedback is acted upon promptly. Furthermore, consortiums are often better placed to secure larger funding pools from major donors, as the approach provides greater assurance of accountability and impact.
Challenges and Mitigation Strategies
Despite its benefits, coordinating consortium efforts in the Rohingya response faces several challenges:
- Cultural and Linguistic Barriers: Many organizations bring in staff who are unfamiliar with the local context or language, creating communication barriers with beneficiaries. To address this, consortiums have invested in training local staff and using community volunteers to act as intermediaries.
- Complex Coordination Mechanisms: Managing multiple partners can create coordination challenges, especially when partners have different working cultures and timelines. Clear governance structures, well-defined roles, and regular coordination meetings have helped mitigate this.
- Funding and Resource Constraints: Often, resources are limited in comparison to the scale of need. Consortiums have addressed this by prioritizing the most critical interventions and sharing resources such as staff and equipment to ensure cost-effectiveness.
Impact on Host Communities
A key component of the consortium projects is the inclusion of host communities in interventions. Host community members have also benefited from WASH services, protection programs, and livelihood support initiatives. By ensuring that both refugee and host populations receive assistance, consortium projects have worked to reduce tensions and promote social cohesion.
Conclusion
The consortium approach in the Rohingya response in Bangladesh has proven to be a vital mechanism for ensuring effective, coordinated humanitarian assistance. By focusing on sectors like WASH and protection, these partnerships have not only addressed the immediate needs of refugees but also worked towards building resilience in both refugee and host communities. The ability to pool resources, expertise, and knowledge has enabled a more holistic and sustainable response to one of the world’s most challenging humanitarian crises.
Mohammed Zafor Ullah Nizam
Mohammed Zafor Ullah Nizam is a seasoned professional with over 22 years of experience in the development sector, both internationally and nationally. He holds two postgraduate degrees from Dhaka University: A Master in Population Sciences (MPS) and a Master in Public Affairs (MPA) with a specialization in Governance and Public Policy. Additionally, he earned a B.Sc. (Honors) in Forestry from Chittagong University.Throughout his extensive career, Mr. Zafor has held pivotal roles in several esteemed organizations. He has served as a Senior Protection Manager at the International Rescue Committee (IRC), Protection Team Leader at Oxfam, and both Protection Capacity Building Manager and Activity Manager at Solidarités International. His experience extends to Save the Children, where he was a Deputy Program Manager, and Chemonics, as a Brand and Service Promotion Specialist. Furthermore, he has contributed his expertise as a Project Assistant at UNFPA Bangladesh, a Senior Training Officer at Save the Children Australia, a National UN Volunteer at UNODC, and a Program Manager at the Bangladesh Women Health Coalition.Mr. Zafor has an impressive track record in training and capacity building. He received specialized training in Project Planning, Development, and Management (PPDM) from the Asian Institute of Management (AIM) in the Philippines. He also completed the COMPASS training program from Harvard Business Publishing, which covers essential skills such as Change Management, Coaching, Decision Making, Delegating, Managing Difficult Interactions, Providing Feedback, Leading People, Persuading Others, and Presentation Skills. Additionally, he has undergone training in Leadership, Time Management, and Conflict and Stress Management from MDS Training.His expertise in training facilitation is well-recognized. Mr. Zafor has conducted PPDM training for five batches through BDJOBS and has provided training to over 1000 participants on a wide range of topics. These include project management, management skills enhancement, child rights, protection, community engagement, community-based protection, monitoring and data analysis, advocacy, inclusiveness, child protection, protection rapid assessment, research tool design, anti-trafficking, communication skills, data analysis, report writing, risk management, and emergency response.Mr. Zafor's training sessions have benefited participants from various sectors, including government agencies, local and national NGOs, and international NGOs. Some of the organizations he has worked with include JTS, Swanirvar Bangladesh, PSTC, SUPPS, SSKS, Image, CWFD, BAMANEH, PSF, Fair Foundation, BWHC, Mukti, YPSA, BLAST, VERC, CODEC, FIVDB, RDRS, Oxfam, IRC, and Solidarités International.With his comprehensive background in capacity building in different areas, Mohammed Zafor Ullah Nizam wants to continue to make significant contributions to the knowledge and skill development of different professionals through effective training and guidance.
