UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador Orlando Bloom visits Rohingya refugee camps in Bangladesh, where funding cuts are putting half a million children’s futures at risk

UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador Orlando Bloom Visits Rohingya Refugee Camps in Bangladesh

DHAKA/NEW YORK, 6 November 2025 — UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador Orlando Bloom visited Bangladesh this week to witness the impact of severe cuts to official development assistance (ODA) on the half a million children living in the Rohingya camps in Cox’s Bazar.

During his four-day visit, Bloom met with children, families, and aid workers to understand the scale of the funding challenges threatening children’s education, health, protection, and survival in the world’s largest refugee camps.

“The children in these camps are 100 per cent dependent on aid, but that aid is sadly shrinking,” said Bloom. “I met 14-year-old Aziz who told me he dreamed of becoming an engineer so that he could build a drone to show the world how much help Rohingya children need. These children need an education in order to have a future.”

In June this year, UNICEF was forced to temporarily close most schools in the Rohingya refugee camps due to funding shortages, affecting nearly 150,000 children. Although children across all grades recently resumed learning after fundraising efforts, the threat of an imminent funding shortfall in early 2026 risks closing all schools again, leaving more than 300,000 children without access to education.

Key Facts

Over 300,000 children risk losing access to education in 2026 due to further global funding cuts.
UNICEF closed most schools in the camps in June 2025 because of funding shortages.
Children recently resumed learning, but another closure is possible in early 2026.

Author’s Summary

Orlando Bloom’s visit highlights the urgent need for sustained funding to protect the education and future of hundreds of thousands of Rohingya refugee children in Bangladesh.

Unicef — 2025-11-05