Concerned about Rohingya children growing up as angry young people: Prof Yunus

Chief Adviser Prof Yunus has described the cut in donor funding as a serious challenge, saying that it has already caused school closures and the loss of thousands of jobs for Rohingya teachers.

"This is a disaster. Education in the camps provided a glimmer of hope for hundreds of thousands of Rohingya children. Our concern is for these children, who are growing up as angry young people and that anger could erupt in unpredictable ways," Prof Yunus told Unicef Executive Director Catherine Russell.

She met with the Chief Adviser on Monday on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly at a hotel in New York.

Their discussion focused on the ongoing Rohingya crisis, particularly the severe funding shortfall affecting humanitarian operations for the over one million refugees currently sheltered in Bangladesh. A key concern was the impact of these funding cuts on education services for Rohingya children in the camps, said Chief Adviser’s Deputy Press Secretary Abul Kalam Azad Majumder on Tuesday.

Unicef Executive Director Russell painted a grim picture of the global funding climate, noting that even traditionally generous European nations are reducing their humanitarian contributions to agencies such as Unicef.

She urged the Bangladeshi government to introduce skills training for Rohingya youth so they could eventually apply those skills upon returning to their homeland.

Unicef Deputy Executive Director Ted Chaiban, who also attended the meeting, emphasized the positive impact that education has already had in the refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar. "The level of education among Rohingya children has increased significantly," he noted.

The meeting also addressed the upcoming High-Level Rohingya Conference at the UN headquarters on Tuesday. Professor Yunus urged Unicef to use the occasion to advocate strongly for the continuation and expansion of education initiatives in the camps.

SDGs Affairs Principal Coordinator and Senior Secretary Lamiya Morshed and senior leader of the National Coordination Platform (NCP) Tasnim Jara were present.