Dhaka: The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has said it ensured improved healthcare to the refugees from Myanmar and vulnerable residents in Cox’s Bazar.

The ICRC continued to respond to the most urgent needs of the vulnerable households and communities affected by incidents of violence or other situations in Bangladesh, working together with the Bangladesh Red Crescent Society (BDRCS), it said sharing facts and figures of 2016.

Throughout 2016, the ICRC continued to work in close partnership with the BDRCS—which acts as an auxiliary to public authorities on humanitarian issues—to raise its organizational and operational capacity to ensure safe and rapid response during any humanitarian emergency.

Notably, in the Chittagong Hill Tracts, the ICRC supported vulnerable households among all ethnic communities with livelihood and water-related interventions, according to ICRC press release issued on Monday.

Elsewhere, the response included ad-hoc assistance to communities affected by incidents of inter-communal or other violence, support to emergency preparedness and response, assistance to migrants and detainees in restoring contact with their families, and help to people with physical disabilities to receive rehabilitation services from the ICRC-supported centers.

As a guardian of the Geneva Conventions, the ICRC worked with authorities, armed forces, police and civil society to promote awareness on International Humanitarian Law (IHL) and humanitarian values, and their integration into domestic legislation, civil and military education and training.

With the ICRC’s support, the national IHL committee continued to guide the domestic implementation of IHL.