Findings from interviews indicated that, of the many refugees who did want to work, they primarily wanted (either themselves or a male in their household) to run a business or receive cash so they could start or expand a business, or work for an NGO. Given that the Rohingya have no access to national micro-credit programmes, this indicates the value of cash provision and community savings groups. In Lebanon, research conducted by the IRC found that, for each dollar of cash assistance spent, $2.13 was created in local markets, highlighting the potential for host communities to benefit from an expansion of cash programming (IRC, 2014). Other less mentioned options were construction, being a guard or cleaner, gardening or fishing and, for women, tailoring or teaching. All of these livelihood options involve work Rohingya people did in Myanmar or are doing now in the camps. While some said they were willing to learn new skills and do any type of work, others had more limited views of what was possible. For example, one 55-year-old woman in Unchiprang described how lack of education had limited opportunities for successive generations of her family. She felt that it would be possible to cultivate land because she knew how to do that from Myanmar, but they had no access to education and her children were illiterate and uneducated, and ‘that is why they cannot do things’. She wanted her grandchildren to be educated to open up better jobs. These findings have implications for the type of response needed in Bangladesh: one that combines market-based opportunities, education opportunities and vocational training. When asked in interviews what would help them most if they had the right to work, refugees said cash (in the form of a one-off payment) and loans to help them start a business (see Figure 5). Some men and women mentioned training, primarily women wanting to learn how to sew. A few women had already attended NGO-run sewing training and been promised sewing machines, though they had not received them.11 Figure 5: If you had the right to work, what would be the greatest help to you? Support to create cooperatives Support to create community savings groups Access to micro-credit and loans Access to land Nothing as long as I had the opportunity I could create my own livelihood Training to get new skills to access work opportunities 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 % 11 While some NGOs may have intended to provide sewing machines, government restrictions may ultimately have prevented them from doing so. Humanitarian Policy Group 21

Select target paragraph3