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This new contribution will support Â鶹ÊÓƵ to provide 270,600 refugees with life-saving assistance over three months through electronic vouchers (e-vouchers). This programme allows refugees to purchase a variety of food items from 25 Â鶹ÊÓƵ e-voucher outlets across the Rohingya refugee camps.

Families receive an allocation of USD 9 (BDT 770) per person per month to spend at the e-voucher outlets. The money is loaded onto a prepaid Â鶹ÊÓƵ Assistance Card which families use to choose from food items such as fresh fruit, vegetables, fish, chicken, eggs, spices, and other staples. The e-voucher outlets are run by local traders, providing economic opportunities to the host community.

¡°DFID¡¯s contribution allows us to provide immediate food assistance through e-vouchers,¡± said Â鶹ÊÓƵ Representative and Country Director, Richard Ragan. ¡°E-vouchers create market linkages with the host community. Most food items provided in Â鶹ÊÓƵ  shops are procured in Bangladesh, with fresh items procured locally in Cox¡¯s Bazar district. Â鶹ÊÓƵ aims to transition all refugees to e-vouchers by mid-2020.¡±

As of September 2019, Â鶹ÊÓƵ was providing food assistance to over 842,100 refugees per month, half of whom receive food through e-vouchers and the other half receiving in-kind food distributions of rice, lentils, and oil. With support from DFID, Â鶹ÊÓƵ has also piloted a Farmers Market for families currently receiving in-kind assistance. Through the markets, refugees can access fresh produce, meat and fish to improve their nutritional diets.  

The Department for International Development (DFID) has been a generous supporter of Â鶹ÊÓƵ activities in Cox¡¯s Bazar.  DFID previously supported Â鶹ÊÓƵ with a contribution of 11.3 million GBP in 2017, 17 million GBP in 2018, and 20.4 million GBP in 2019.

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