Impact Assessment of the Nutrition Project in Both the Rohingya Camps and Host Communities of Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh

Abstract

Aim: World Vision Bangladesh is implementing the nutrition projects to address malnutrition in Cox's Bazar, targeting children under age 5 years and Pregnant and Lactating Women, both in refugee camps and host communities. The projects operate through 6 Integrated Nutrition Facilities and 59 community sites, adopting both curative and preventive approaches. The projects were assessed in depth against the Core Humanitarian Standards and the Sphere Standard, and their measured outcomes and outputs were evaluated. Methodology: The study was designed to review the secondary nutrition program performance & the effectiveness of the interventions, and conduct a cross-sectional study using both quantitative and qualitative data collection to gain deep insight into the target population in 4 Rohingya camps and Moheshkhali and Pekua of Cox’s Bazar. We included 442 pregnant and breastfeeding women (PBW) and 452 caregivers of 0-59-month-old children. Qualitative data were obtained through 14 FGDs and 13 KIIs from the project areas. Results: The program performance indicators reflected that the nutrition activities met the Sphere Standard in terms of coverage of over 100% in camps, and over 70% in the host community. Cure rate averages 98.2% in camps and 99.3% in the host community (>75%). The quantitative survey showed that the nutritional status (wasting) of the children improved from 15.1% to 11.2% at Rohingya camps and from 13.1% to 10.9% in the host community. All mothers practiced the Infants and Young Child Feeding indicators, such as exclusive breastfeeding, 72.2% & 73.0% of mothers from the Rohingya and the host community, respectively. 33.0% of mothers from the camps and 35.8% of mothers from the host community ensured the Minimum Acceptable Diet for complementary feeding for children 6-23 months. All these activities and approaches strengthened resilience through stakeholder engagement, marginalized group inclusion, and women's empowerment, which met CHS’s four core indicators. Conclusion: Among the recommendations, it is critically important that male family members and local leaders be involved in community-level nutrition campaigns, ensuring community engagement, sustainability, and adherence to humanitarian standards. These initiatives can further improve the health and well-being of children and PBW both in the camps and host communities by addressing existing barriers and scaling up innovative solutions.