Naoki inaugurates vocational training project in Cox’s Bazar Rohingya camps

Takahashi Naoki, Minister and Deputy Chief of Mission (DCM) of the Embassy of Japan to Bangladesh, visited Rohingya camps and inaugurated vocational training project in Cox’s Bazar on 9 December.

He also attended the inauguration ceremony of the Project for Construction of Vocational Training Facilities in Cox's Bazar funded by the Government of Japan through the Grant Assistance for Grass-Roots Human Security Projects (GGHSP) and provided to the NGO Bangla-German Sampreeti (BGS).

He also visited the Rohingya refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar on 10 December, where around 970,000 Rohingya refugees reside, a press release said here on Wednesday.

The project by BGS is expected to provide vocational training courses to socially and economically vulnerable young people at a 2-story vocational training facility equipped with training rooms and accommodation rooms.

“I hope this centre will enable local youth to learn professional skills for employment and to provide them with sources of income, thereby mitigating their social and economic vulnerabilities”, stated Minister Takahashi.

Japan has supported 213 NGO projects through its GGHSP in Bangladesh since 1989 with a view to enhancing economic and social human security at the grassroots levels.

The total sum of these GGHSP grants extended to NGOs in Bangladesh to date amounts to approximately $16.9 million.

Minister Takahashi also visited a registration centre, a learning centre, a teachers' training centre, a livelihood skill development and production centre, a food distribution centre, a bakery shop, the Rohingya Cultural Memory Centre, and the Women-Led Community Centre in the Rohingya camps as well as a flood response site in Ukhiya.

He had a meeting with Mohammed Mizanur Rahman, Refugee Relief and Repatriation Commissioner, and also exchanged views with UN agencies.

Witnessing ongoing activities in the field, Minister Takahashi said, “Following my visit to Bhasan Char with Japanese business people last month, I visited the Rohingya camps in Cox’s Bazar for the first time. Japan will continue to support both Rohingya refugees and their host communities through its assistance both in Cox’s Bazar and in Bhasan Char”.

Since the large influx of Rohingya refugees into Bangladesh in August 2017, Japan has contributed over $220 million to various interventions in Cox's Bazar as well as on Bhasan Char through international organizations and NGOs, providing assistance such as food, healthcare, WASH, shelters, protection, and gender mainstreaming.

More than seven years have already passed since the onset of the Rohingya refugee crisis in August 2017.

It is essential to keep raising awareness of the international community. Japan will continue to work toward the resolution of the Rohingya humanitarian crisis.