 It is rainy season here in the Rohingya refugee camp in Cox's Bazaar, Bangladesh. The rain is pouring and people seek cover inside their shelters. It is a matter of great concern for everyone here to keep and maintain their shelters despite the the monsoon and camp conditions. Close to one million people live in this camp since the influx of refugees in 2017 and much needs to be done to improve the harsh conditions here. Traditionally, both locals in Cox's Bazaar and the Rohingya people have used bamboo for building and maintaining their shelters. Building on these techniques, the International Organization for Migration developed an initiative to provide better quality and more durable bamboo to the Rohingya refugee and local communities. Completed in 2019, the Bamboo Treatment Facility, BTF, is the largest initiative that focuses on bamboo processing effort in the humanitarian sector. And it is an essential part of IOM's operations in this southern region of eastern Bangladesh. The facility has created safer processing standards, ecologically friendly treatment and more durable bamboo products, while promoting community involvement of both the Rohingya and local populations. Momtaz Begum explains the impact of BTF on her life. Before working here, I had many worries in my life and struggled with money and feeding my family. Now, everything has changed. At the facility, we employ a local workforce made up of both men and women from the host community. Abdul Salam, a worker from Teknaf, explains. Here, we can work male and female together in an equal state. It touches me the most, and we work supportively. At the facility, instead of drilling across the poles as everyone else did, the bamboo poles are drilled horizontally to open the length of the bamboo. This innovative method of drilling increases the efficiency of the treatment process. This approach required us to create our very own drills for this purpose, as no such thing existed yet. The horizontal hole allows us to connect across nodes of the bamboo and facilitate better and uniform soaking in pools and later in drying, improving the entire efficiency of treatment and production time. After drilling and washing, the bamboo is ready for the next critical step, the soaking into a solution that has been created, tested and pioneered by IOM at the bamboo treatment facility. That solution is actually a mixture of water and borate, a natural additive that helps to preserve the bamboo, since it is absorbed by the fibres and no longer digestible by pests. Thanks to this, the bamboo lifespan has extended from about one and a half years up to five years. Consequently, less resources are consumed. At the facility, everything is oriented toward the goal of sustainability. Firstly, all natural waste collected along the soaking process is recycled to cast solid bricks. Once dried out, they will serve as biofuel. Moreover, the solid bamboo parts, cut or discarded in the cleaning process, are reused to produce bamboo charcoal, which will be placed in the large filters used to recycle the treatment solution so it can be reused with minimal losses. Bamboo is widely used for IOM shelter project or for slope stabilization work. And this is much needed in a rainy season when the shelters tend to be severely damaged because they are made up of only plastic and bamboo. Even with treatment, bamboo will eventually rot or break. Repairs are then needed and the distribution network expects several thousand bamboos every week to match the critical needs of the refugees. To address those needs, IOM trains dozens of carpenters, both men and women, enabling them to skillfully handle the urgent repair and help their community. Laila Begum, an IOM trained refugee carpenter, explains. Previously, I did not know the shelter building or repairing work. After getting training in carpentry from IOM, I can repair my shelter myself as well as support my community and that makes me happy. With this initiative, IOM seeks to improve and innovate in order to match the needs of the host community and refugees, as with the Rohingya Cultural Memory Centre. Third production output of the bamboo treatment facility contributes to building a thriving and resilient community, where everyone plays a key role in responding to the risks and impacts of disasters, environmental degradation and climate change. One bamboo at a time.