Australia has committed USD 11.4 millionAUD16 million in multi-year funding to UNICEF to sustain life-saving support for Rohingya children and host communities in Bangladesh.
The 2026"2028 contribution, which began in April 2026, will help ensure children in Cox's Bazar and Bhasan Char continue to access critical health, nutrition, education, water, sanitation, and protection services, where humanitarian needs remain acute, and resources are increasingly stretched.
“Australia remains committed to supporting Rohingya and host communities in Bangladesh as the crisis continues,” said Susan Ryle, Australian High Commissioner to Bangladesh. “This contribution will help ensure that children have access to essential services, protection, and education.”
This comes at a critical time when funding shortages are putting essential services for refugee children under serious strain.
For nearly a decade, Rohingya children have grown up in exile, dependent on humanitarian assistance for the most basic elements of childhood healthcare, education, nutrition, safe water, and protection. As one of the world's largest refugee crises facing growing funding shortages, hard-won gains are at risk, leaving vulnerable children increasingly exposed to hunger, disease, violence, and the loss of critical services.
“A child is a child, wherever they are, and every child has the right to survive, learn, and thrive. Rohingya children remain among the most vulnerable in the world. Without sustained access to essential services, there is a real risk of a lost generation, a lost culture,” said Rana Flowers, UNICEF Representative in Bangladesh.
“To ensure these children stay healthy and reach their full potential, long-term support is critical. It allows UNICEF to respond quickly, to ensure the life-saving services reach the children who depend on us. We are deeply grateful to the government and the people of Australia for this commitment at such an urgent moment.
Australia’s contribution builds on a longstanding partnership with UNICEF and provides flexible, predictable funding that is critical in the current humanitarian context. This flexible funding enables allocation of resources where and when needed most, adapts quickly to emerging challenges, and sustains essential services for children living in complex and evolving conditions.
In 2025, despite the overall response being only 46 percent funded, UNICEF reached more than 637,000 people through programmes supported by the Australian Government’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), delivering services in health, nutrition, education, child protection, and water and sanitation to children and families across the camps, host communities, and Bhasan Char.
However, despite this progress, significant gaps remain. A projected funding shortfall of USD 13.5 million for priority life-saving activities in 2026 underscores the continued risk to essential services for children and vulnerable families.
Australia’s renewed commitment will help UNICEF and its partners protect and sustain essential services across sectors while strengthening a more efficient, locally driven, and sustainable humanitarian response for Rohingya children, their families, and host communities. This contribution is helping protect the rights, well-being, and future of Rohingya and Bangladeshi children, ensuring they continue to receive the support they need today while building pathways toward a safer and more hopeful tomorrow.
