An internal audit has flagged mismanagement, irregularities and misuse of aid in several United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees-run Rohingya relief projects in Bangladesh.
Planned and implemented poorly, the projects were found not properly aligned with the refugee agency’s objectives, ultimately leading to waste amid declining global donations for the Rohingya people sheltered in Bangladesh.
The projects also suffered from lapses in their monitoring, evaluation, and implementation, with infrastructure built or rented but never used, while vendors and contractors, who did not offer the lowest prices, bagged the work orders, the audit prepared by the Office of Internal Oversight Services at the UN headquarters found.
According to the audit findings published in December 2025, the UN Refugee Agency failed to meet its core objectives, instead diluting its budget on overlapping projects.
This overstep resulted in waste, duplication of efforts, and the misuse of resources.
The audit covered the period between January 2023 and December 2024 also noted that despite hiring over 100 employees, UNHCR failed to select beneficiaries properly.
On the ground, the audit found that health and hygiene issues were easily detectable, and the refugee agency’s failure to account for environmental factors resulted in a clear misuse of funds.
A failure to take timely health programmes caused the health of the refugee community to deteriorate.
In one alarming instance, one vendor even supplied needles after altering their expiry dates.
‘UNHCR is committed to transparency and accountability in all our operations, and regular audits are important tools for assessing and improving our work to protect and assist people forced to flee as effectively as possible,’ UNHCR communications officer in Bangladesh Shari Nijman said in an email reply to New Age on Tuesday.
This audit was part of the OIOS work plan as agreed with UNHCR and covered the programmes implemented in 2023-2024, she said.
Shari also said that measures to address the audit’s recommendations were underway to strengthen programme implementation and oversight, and improve cost-efficiency.
The audit found health infrastructure and medical equipment meant to be used for refugees remained unused.
A $1.5 million specialised hospital built in Ukhiya, and a 20-bed in-patient facility in Bhasan Char, which was fitted with solar equipment worth $140,000 and an X-ray machine worth $74,301 remained unused.
UNHCR implemented $528,528 worth of energy projects in Bhasan Char despite a memorandum assigning infrastructure development to the government, resulting in duplication of solarisation of three facilities already completed by the government at a cost of $80,000 and installation of unnecessary voltage regulators worth $25,000, the audit revealed.
OIOS observed that UNHCR’s lack of a communicable disease programme resulted in a surge in acute respiratory infections and Hepatitis C cases in 2024 while the representation did not prioritise non-communicable diseases despite a 2024 assessment showing a marked increase in them.
The representation lacked epidemic preparedness plans, according to the audit, hindering timely and effective responses to outbreaks in 2024, including 1.7 million acute watery diarrhoea and 193 cholera cases; and scabies and head lice that affected 40 and 35 per cent of the population, respectively.
The audit also noted ineffectiveness in the $3.6 million nutrition programme.
Despite hiring 123 partner staff members at a cost of $850,000, the $1.82 million referral programme lacked proper beneficiary selection criteria, had outdated guidelines and expired hospital agreements, the audit said.
Frequent stock-outs, overstocking and expiry of medicines further highlighted gaps in managing the $6 million medicines programme.
UNHCR awarded a $1.82 million contract to a previously blacklisted vendor that had altered expiry dates on medical needles, and also selected a higher-priced vendor, resulting in a loss of $97,136, while investing $165,650 in a Health Information System that remained non-operational since 2018.
Despite having over 400 staff members, the UNHCR delegated 62 per cent of programme implementation to partners without a comparative advantage assessment.
Most local partners remained heavily dependent on UNHCR funding, thereby undermining cost-sharing and resulting in project support costs totaling $6.1 million, the audit found.
Procurement without cost-benefit analysis led to $6.5 million in irrecoverable taxes due to unutilised VAT exemptions, while absence of procurement planning caused ad hoc purchases and wastage.
For example, partners procured items already purchased by UNHCR, including shelter materials worth $4.2 million, solar and energy projects totaling $194,000 and medicines and medical equipment worth $800,000, said the report.
The weak review of partner budgets resulted in large amounts not having sufficient details for monitoring, resulting in unnecessary expenditures, such as $85,000 paid as monthly allowances to government officials and $95,000 paid as biannual festival allowances.
The allocation of additional funding at the year-end without adequate guidance also resulted in inefficiencies and waste. For example, a government partner received $430,000 in November 2023 and in a rush to meet year-end deadlines, bypassed procurement rules and had quality issues in the constructions.
Other costs in question included $18,000 spent on honor boards, $23,000 on staff uniforms, and $27,000 on a documentary, said the OIOS report.
In a display of weak coordination among UN agencies, government entities and implementing partners’ duplication of infrastructure led to the construction of 128 piped water networks, 52 pumping stations and over 20,000 tube wells in the same areas.
A July 2024 review exposed unresolved issues in energy projects -- including poor workmanship and training gaps -- blaming weak supervision by five staff members costing $200,000.
The audit found limited progress in shifting from response to durable solutions, which was a core objective of UNHCR.
Eight years into the crisis, 67 per cent of funds were spent on immediate relief, while only 17 per cent went to empowerment and long-term solutions, the audit report said.
The Kutupalong Transit Center remains operational five years on, costing $3.5 million since 2020 without an exit plan.
Water supply levels showed inconsistencies, with Ukhiya receiving 30 litres per person per day and Teknaf only 10 lppd against the 20-litre standard.
A $2 million water project was abandoned and later repurposed, while a $1.3 million investment only addressed design flaws, the audit found.
Hygiene conditions were affected by clogged drainage, lack of handwashing facilities and delayed soap distribution.
UNHCR invested $2.2 million in 99 elephant watch towers, later deemed ineffective, with $56,025 in material losses due to cyclone-inappropriate design.
The audit revealed that UNHCR failed to conduct a needs assessment to optimise its transport fleet. As a result, the agency could not justify operating 52 programme vehicles across 16 camps, nor could it explain a pool of 48 administrative vehicles managed by just 29 drivers, the audit report said.
Apart from this, at the time of the audit, 10 of the 104 vehicles had not been operational for an extended period, and over $80,000 was paid for these vehicles in rental fees.
The LPG refill purchases totaling $24.2 million exceeded needs ($18.7 million) by $5.5 million while delays in implementing recommendations from the multiple pilot studies conducted on the use of pressure cookers resulted in missed savings estimated at $2 million.
The UN Refugee Agency constructed a $240,000 office in Cox’s Bazar without landlord approval or cost recovery plans.
A design change added a third floor, increasing costs, while the landlord later raised rents despite no lease agreement.
The office remained unused for five months while $11,000 was paid monthly for the previous premises, said the report.
UNHCR also relied on a single contractor for $25 million in construction works, with prices 26 per cent above market rates, resulting in potential losses of $6.5 million, while cheaper vendors were not utilised.
In addition, reliance on a single LPG vendor accounted for $30 million (33 per cent) of procurement despite not being the lowest bidder, while subcontracting increased costs.
The audit also found inflated energy programme costs, with rates up to 36 per cent above market and losses including $294,840 in solar projects and $1.5 million in electrical works.
Contract rate increases without market review added $2.2 million in costs, while conflicts of interest were identified in vendor roles.
The audit also found excess warehouse capacity, including 24 partner-managed shelter warehouses and 31 others, with consolidation ignored, resulting in $523,581 in avoidable costs in 2024.
UNHCR also paid $126,000 annually for eight years for an unused motel, while an alternative space was available for $36,000 per year, leading to over $1 million in avoidable costs.
‘We remain committed to ensuring that assistance to the Rohingya in Bangladesh reaches those most in need, while upholding the highest standards of quality and efficiency,’ UNHCR officer Shari Nijman said.
Bangladesh is hosting more than 13 lakh Rohingyas, nearly 7.5 lakh of whom fled the Myanmar military crackdown in Rakhine state in 2017.
