Rohingya refugees are reported to have been physically and mentally traumatized by the violence, including sexual and gender-based violence. ActionAid Bangladesh (AAB) is specifically working to ensure the rights of women and children, and safeguarding them against the trauma of the crisis by building Women Friendly Spaces (WFS) and child-friendly corners as part of the WFS. In addition to looking after their nutrition and WASH needs, the WFS will also provide emotional support, ensuring that their psyches are not permanently impacted in a negative manner due to the violence they lived through. Alongside providing shelter and WASH needs, AAB is willing to provide dignity kits that are geared toward the cold weather of the winter months. Additionally, the women friendly spaces work to prevent Gender-based violence (GBV) and abuse and offer counselling to women who have faced abuse or violence. Apart from directly w

Background The current Rohingya population taking refuge in Bangladesh amounts to over 1 million, with the majority comprising women and children. They are one of the most vulnerable groups of people deprived of basic human rights in the world today. Subjected to violence and conflict, and unrecognized as citizens of Myanmar, they f

Since August 2017, violence in Myanmar’s Rakhine state has forced over 690,000 Rohingya people to flee their homes and cross the border into Cox’s Bazar in Bangladesh, where 200,000 refugees had already been living for 25 years. According to the UN, this is ‘the fastest growing refugee crisis in the world. At present, there is no reliable plan for the refugees’ safe return home and they are entirely reliant on humanitarian assistance to survive.

About 65 million people in the world today are refugees or forcibly displaced according to UNHCR. The reality is grave for a person seeking refuge in another country, who do not have any guarantee of coming back to their own land, which they use to call home once. Kutupalong in Bangladesh is the largest refugee camp in the world right now, sheltering over 800,000 displaced citizens of Myanmar, the majority of which are minors.

At a Glance The implementation agreement of the project was made between IOM and ActionAid Bangladesh. The initiative aims to provide life-saving site management interventions for the Rohingya refugees in Cox’s Bazar. Specifically, this project aims to provide site coordinator and site management activities in camps 11 and 12 and ensure the affected population has access to the required level of assistance and protection.

ActionAid Bangladesh has been working towards empowering women and ending sexual violence against women of Bangladesh through various programs, projects and campaigns. “Safe Cities” is a new initiative by Action Aid that seeks to address violence against women in public spaces. The aim of the campaign is to make cities in Bangladesh safe for women and girls by reducing their experience and fear of sexual violence in urban public areas and by creating allies amongst men and boys through creating positive behavioral change. Through this campaign, first of all, women and girls will be aware of their right to live free from violence. Increased access to protection from police and legal aid services will empower survivors to seek support and legal redress. Secondly, men and boys will also gain knowledge on VAW and will know how to take measures to prevent such situations. Finally, change makers will have increased knowledge of processes and leadership skills required to make cities safe for women and are able to support and refer women affected by violence.

We are reminded more often than desirable that social attitude and behaviour is difficult to change. Violence against women (VAW) in Bangladesh is widespread. Its alarming growth over 2004-2009 prompted the government to come up with stringent measures like enactment of the Women and Children Repression Prevention Act 2002 (amended 2003), Domestic Violence (Prevention & Protection) Act 2010, Acid Control Act 2002 and Acid Crime Prevention Acts 2002. All these measures earned the government much appreciation both at home and aboard. Despite all these efforts, according to experts, the