Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh – December 4, 2025 – In a powerful gesture of international solidarity, the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has received 3,000 metric tons of sunflower oil for Rohingya refugees living in camps in Bangladesh. The shipment, produced in Ukraine and worth $7 million, arrived at Chattogram port before being transported to Cox's Bazar on the southeastern coast. This single donation will cover the cooking oil needs of nearly one million refugees for the next three months — a critical lifeline at a time when food assistance is under severe threat.
The handover ceremony was attended by the ambassadors of Sweden, Ukraine, and France highlighted the unique partnership behind the aid. Sweden fully funded the $7 million procurement and transportation costs, while France provided additional logistical support. The delivery is part of the “Grain from Ukraine” humanitarian program launched by the Ukrainian government in November 2022.
Speaking at the event, Swedish Ambassador to Bangladesh Nicolas Weeks said: “This initiative is unique; it helps meet urgent food needs for Rohingya refugees in Cox's Bazar while supporting Ukrainian farmers and families enduring the immense impact of Russia’s war of aggression.”
WFP Country Director for Bangladesh Dom Scalpelli expressed deep gratitude: “This generous contribution from Ukraine, Sweden, and France, alongside the steadfast support from the Government of Bangladesh, is a beacon of hope in these trying times.”
The “Grain from Ukraine” program was created to channel Ukrainian agricultural products to countries facing acute food insecurity through WFP operations. Before Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022, Ukraine was the world’s largest exporter of sunflower oil and a top supplier of wheat, corn, and barley — feeding an estimated 400 million people annually. The war severely disrupted those exports and contributed to a global spike in food prices. Since its launch, the initiative has raised more than $220 million and delivered over 280,000 tons of food assistance to 18 countries in Africa, Asia, and the Middle East.
For the Rohingya, the timing could not be more critical.
More than 1.2 million Rohingya refugees — mostly women and children — now live in 33 densely packed camps in Cox's Bazar and on Bhasan Char island, making it the largest refugee settlement on earth. Most arrived in a mass exodus in August 2017 after Myanmar’s military launched what United Nations investigators described as a campaign of ethnic cleansing involving mass killings, rape, and village burnings. A smaller wave of over 150,000 new arrivals has fled renewed fighting in Rakhine State since mid-2024.
Inside the camps, over 95 percent of families depend entirely on humanitarian aid. Acute malnutrition among children under five has surged 27 percent in 2025. Women and girls face heightened risks of gender-based violence, child marriage, and trafficking as families adopt desperate survival strategies.
Funding for the response, however, is drying up fast.
WFP faces a $190 million shortfall for its 2025–2026 Rohingya operation, of which $172 million is needed for food and nutrition assistance alone. Without new contributions, the agency has warned that monthly food rations — already reduced twice since 2023 — will be cut in half again starting April 2026, dropping from the equivalent of $12.50 to just $6 per person. Further reductions could follow by October 2026, threatening the collapse of the entire food pipeline.
The broader 2025–2026 Joint Response Plan coordinated by the Government of Bangladesh, UNHCR, and partners requires $934.5 million to assist 1.48 million people (refugees and host communities) but is currently only 12 percent funded.
Global crises — including the wars in Ukraine and Gaza, famine in Sudan, and rising defence budgets in donor countries — have triggered what aid workers call “donor fatigue.” Bangladesh, which has shouldered the overwhelming majority of the crisis costs for eight years, continues to call for safe, voluntary, and dignified repatriation. Myanmar’s military junta, however, still refuses to recognise Rohingya citizenship or allow large-scale returns, citing security concerns.
Despite the bleak outlook, recent contributions offer some encouragement. China recently donated rice, pulses, and oil worth $5 million to feed 45,000 refugees, while South Korea pledged $5 million for protection and gender-based violence prevention programs. The Ukrainian sunflower oil shipment is the largest single food donation to the Rohingya response in 2025.
As WFP’s Dom Scalpelli put it: “This oil is more than food — it’s a bridge between two crises, reminding the world that hunger knows no borders.”
For the Rohingya families waiting in long queues with their ration cards, every litre of cooking oil represents one more month they can feed their children a hot meal. In a world stretched thin by competing emergencies, that small act of solidarity from Ukraine, Sweden, France, and Bangladesh may be what keeps an entire generation from sliding into irreversible malnutrition and despair.
