An Agenda for a Dignified and Sustainable Rohingya Refugee Response in Bangladesh 5.2.2 Issue-centred approaches 5.2.2.1 Funding and human resources The current policy environment constrains localisation goals in the Rohingya refugee response. Shortterm planning and resource allocations along with the aid restrictions in place, precludes humanitarian agencies from implementing longer-term inclusive social cohesion programmes to build refugee selfreliance and address host community needs.266 Many UN agencies and international NGOs with longstanding presence in Bangladesh have strong relationships with local partners, including government agencies, and by working together over a period of time, they have strengthened overall national response capacity. Yet, many donors, despite their localisation commitments, continue to channel the bulk of their funds through UN agencies and to a lesser extent, through international NGOs due to their pre-existing institutional protocols and the overall risks associated with the bureaucratic barriers for NGO operations in Bangladesh. A combination of these factors results in local actors becoming sub-contractors of UN agencies or international NGOs in the response, thereby hindering a complementary approach. In Bangladesh, the JRP was 59.4% funded in 2020, as compared to 75.2% in 2019. As reported by UN OCHA (2020),267 62.4% of the funding was received by the UN agencies and 30.6% by NGOs (34.7% to international NGOs, 26% to national NGOs, 7.6% to affiliated organisations and no funding to local NGOs). Reporting on funding, however, remains partial or incomplete. UN and NGO pooled funds combining different donor contributions and providing flexible funding towards emergency response is not yet available for the Rohingya refugee response in Bangladesh. Exceptionally, Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) funding was made available in 2020 to 24 NGOs (4 per country/ one-third national NGOs) in six countries, including Bangladesh, to address lifesaving health and water and sanitation needs during COVID-19.268 A total of 3 million USD was allocated to 3 Bangladeshi and 2 international NGOs working in the Rohingya refugee response in Bangladesh.269 The Grand Bargain commitments on localisation were taken into consideration while disbursing these funds, and one additional local NGO was identified to benefit from this emergency funding opportunity. However, questions were raised about the CERF process by localisation advocates like CCNF who argued that local NGOs were excluded from accessing these funds due to the short application deadline and complex application process.270 Localisation debates in the Rohingya refugee response are also centred around the use of local human resources. The Bangladeshi public sector has experienced human resource shortages as skilled health 266 Abu Faisel Md. Khaled, Do No Harm in refugee humanitarian aid: the case of the Rohingya humanitarian response, Journal of International Humanitarian Action volume 6, Article number: 7 (2021), available at https://jhumanitarianaction.springeropen.com/articles/10.1186/s41018-021-00093-9 267 OCHA FTS, Bangladesh: 2020 Joint Response Plan for Rohingya Humanitarian Crisis (January-December), available at https://fts.unocha.org/appeals/906/recipient-types 268 IOM/OCHA: UN Humanitarian Chief Releases USD 25 Million in CERF Funding to IOM for NGO COVID-19 Responses, 23 June 2020, available at https://reliefweb.int/report/world/iomocha-un-humanitarian-chief-releases-usd-25-million-cerffunding-iom-ngo-covid-19 269 United Nations, CERF allocates $3 million to NGOs for the COVID-19 response in Bangladesh, 21 July 2020, available at https://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/Press%20Statement%20_CERF%20allocates%20%243%20million% 20to%20NGOs%20for%20the%20COVID-19%20response%20in%20Bangladesh_21Jul20%20%281%29.pdf 270 Working in Cox’s Bazar: Local NGOs question UN’s fund allocation, The Daily Star, 29 July 2020, available at https://www.thedailystar.net/city/news/working-coxs-bazar-local-ngos-question-uns-fund-allocation-1937837 Act for Peace / May 2021 59