Staff Correspondent
Recently, Norwegian Ambassador Håkon Arald Gulbrandsen visited the Rohingya refugee camps in Cox’s
Bazar. The Ambassador appreciated the tireless work and continued support from national and
international partner agencies to the Rohingyas.
The Ambassador and his delegation visited several camps and observed activities run by UN and partner
agencies that include United Nations Development Programme in Bangladesh, World Food Programme,
FAOBangladesh, UNFPA Bangladesh, UNHCR in Bangladesh, IOM Bangladesh, and the NRC – Norwegian
Refugee Council. The Ambassador was encouraged to see the many response measures implemented by
the UN partners, including activities related to preventing gender-based violence in the camps by
engaging women and men, adolescent girls and boys, as well as community leaders serving as role
models for changing behaviour. Indeed, the efforts of humanitarian actors are inspirational, especially
considering the volume of activities and complexities associated with working in the camps.
The delegation visited a project called “SAFE+2”, which is providing cooking gas to the Rohingya
community and supporting several other interventions in the camps and host community. The project is
supported by Norway and other donors, and in addition to cooking fuel provision, it focuses on restoring
forest land and building resilience in refugee and host communities.
Ambassador Gulbrandsen and his team were highly pleased to see the optical rain gauge installation by
UNDP’s technical partner Norwegian Geotechnical Institute NGI – Norges Geotekniske Institutt that
support landslide and rainfall monitoring systems in the Cox’s Bazar camps and host community areas.
The project is installing several optical rain gauges, which, when they are up and running, will contribute
to landslide early warning systems in Cox’s Bazar District. With support from Norway, UNDP is also
providing training to strengthen the capacity of volunteers on landslide risk mitigation, preparedness,
and response in Cox’s Bazar.
