The Cox's Bazar CSO and NGO Forum (CCNF), a network of 50 local and national CSOs and NGOs working for the betterment of Rohingya refugees, on Sunday in a statement expressed solidarity with the UN effort to raise funds for Rohingya response at the fund-raising UN conference in New York on September 24, says a press release. The CCNF also demanded maintaining transparency and localisation of the fundraising response.

It said there has been a long-standing demand to ensure localisation and transparency of aid ever since the Rohingya influx started in August 2017.

There was commitment on the part of UN agencies to localisation even in 2018 and 2019, but there has been little implementation in this regard. It should be noted that the demand was USD 920 million for the 2019 Joint Response Plan (JRP). However, only 38 per cent of the required level has been received even after nine months. UN agencies are trying again to raise the rest of the fund through this conference. The Bangladesh government is supporting the initiative, according to the statement issued by CCNF.

Localisation refers to the participation and leadership of local actors in humanitarian response where transaction and overhead cost of the aid will be drastically reduced. Approximately 60–70 per cent of the humanitarian aid is being channelled through UN agencies. So far, USD 1.32 billion has been raised as total aid. According to the statement, the aid has drastically reduced by 50 per cent as global donors are losing interest in the Rohingya crisis.