DHAKA, Bangladesh - The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is committing an additional $75 million in humanitarian aid to assist vulnerable Rohingya refugees in Cox's Bazar and members of the Bangladeshi host community in meeting ongoing needs exacerbated by rising food and fuel prices.

With this new funding, USAID will collaborate with the World Food Program (WFP) to provide critical food and nutrition assistance, infrastructure maintenance, disaster risk reduction, and logistics support, according to a statement issued on Thursday.

According to the statement, the new funding will provide critical and life-saving assistance to nearly 600,000 people.

Food and nutrition assistance includes electronic vouchers for staple and fresh foods at designated distribution sites, assistance with feeding programs for malnourished children aged six months to five years old, and pregnant and lactating women.

These programs will benefit people living in 33 refugee camps and 130 locations in the local Bangladeshi community. WFP will also work with the community to maintain and improve public infrastructure within the camps through disaster risk reduction programming.

Bangladesh is home to nearly one million refugees, the vast majority of whom are ethnic Rohingya. More than 774,000 refugees were forced to flee their homes in Myanmar's Rakhine State six years ago following a campaign of genocide, ethnic cleansing, and other horrific atrocities and abuses against Rohingya by members of Myanmar's military. Most of these refugees are housed in one of the world's largest camps in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh.

The US is committed to assisting the Rohingya, and USAID will continue to help them in their time of need, as well as the generous communities in Bangladesh that have taken them in, according to the statement.