26 Bangladesh, Burma and the Rohingya crisis the disenfranchised ethnic communities, such as those in Kachin, Shan and Rakhine States, with little access to the government public funding/ resources and majority Burmese public support.75 The Minister said: We are supporting a £34 million, multi‑year project focused on the Thai‑Burma border, aimed at meeting the humanitarian needs of refugees and equipping them with the knowledge and skills to reintegrate when they return home.76 Richard Montgomery added: We are also looking at re-orientating some of our health and education work to make sure that we are working more with ethnic organisations that provide health and education. That is something that we have been discussing with the Secretary of State. It is not just about a humanitarian lifeline, although we are helping to provide assistance to about 100,000 people in northern Shan and the Kachin, and in the Thai border camps. Through the livelihood and food security programme, we are also doing work up in these areas on nutrition, on maternal health and on trying to provide opportunities for farmers and people involved in forestry to make better livelihoods. These are, again, incentives for peace in the longer term.77 Supporting local groups 50. Supporting local groups to assess and deliver against need in IDP communities has consistently been a recommendation of this Committee in 2007 and 2013. The Committee reported in 2007: Ethnic, religious and community groups often have relatively open access to government-controlled and ceasefire areas and can provide important development (and some limited protection) assistance to IDPs. Such groups can assess IDPs’ needs at first-hand and tailor their response accordingly. Another key benefit to assistance provided by local grassroots organisations is their ability to go beyond emergency humanitarian assistance to undertake more sustainable development work with communities.78 The Committee concluded: Providing funding to community-based organisations (CBOs), who often manage their own clinics, schools and projects, is a way for donors to assist IDPs without channelling funds through the military regime. Such groups can go beyond emergency assistance to carry out crucial sustainable development work at grassroots level. [ … ] We recommend that DFID 75 76 77 78 Kachin Relief Fund (DBB021) Q256 Q263 DFID assistance to Burmese internally displaced people and refugees on the Thai-Burma border, Tenth Report, 2006–07, HC 645