It is the first payment of a package of $200m in total and will focus on water supply and sanitation, disaster risk management, energy and roads. 

Since August 2017, about 700,000 people have crossed the border from Rakhine State in Myanmar into Coxsbazar, southeast of Bangladesh, which has caused strain on the local infrastructure and economy, the bank said.

ADB president Takehiko Nakao said: “Given the scale of the humanitarian needs, we are coordinating closely and promptly with the World Bank and other development partners to support the government in addressing the crisis in Coxsbazar.

 “With the principle of putting people first, ADB’s project in this first phase will seek to provide basic infrastructure and services that will ease vulnerabilities and risk of hunger, disease, and disaster.”

The project will repair roads, connecting food distribution and storage centres, hospitals, education facilities.

It will also provide mobile water carriers, bathing facilities and build a piped water supply system and waste management facilities.

The support is within the framework of a joint response plan prepared by UN-led Sector Coordination Group, in coordination with the government. It has been developed and implemented in coordination with the UN, the World Bank and other donors.

The first phase of the project is costing $120m over about two-and-a-half years, the bank said.

The first ADB $100m grant will come from the Asian Development Fund, while the government will provide the other $20m.

The timing and scope of the second tranche of $100m will depend on the progress of the first phase, the ADB said.