UNICEF and allies will build temporary tents for Rohingya children to learn while classrooms are being rebuilt after 1,500 children lost access to education.

Children have already escaped from violence and trauma, so there is a pressing work with local authorities, UN agencies and partners to provide shelter for the most vulnerable, said UNICEF Bangladesh representative Sheldon Yett.

UNICEF´s support includes to respond to their basic needs so that all affected children are safe, healthy and protected.

The agency estimates that at least 5,000 Rohingya refugees were left homeless, 3,500 of them children, after the fire spread through Cox’s Bazar camp on January 7, where more than one million displaced people from persecution in Myanmar are sheltered.

A total of 842 shelters were affected, of which 749 were totally ravaged by the fire and 93 were partially destroyed.

Some 30 communal facilities were damaged, including health facilities, schools, mosques and a mobile firefighting unit center.

The World Food Program (WFP), on the other hand, estimates that chronic malnutrition will affect 40% of children aging under 5 as of the beginning of 2023, while 12% of children suffer from acute malnutrition.

UNICEF called on donors this week to maintain funding for humanitarian operations and sustained support until the Rohingya refugees can be repatriated in safety and dignity.

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