Background

Rohingya refugees started to stream into Bangladesh since August 2017 due to the eruption of extreme violence in Rakhine. While the Rohingya people have now found shelter in Bangladesh, concerns around their security and needs in terms of access to food, protection, health, and WASH services still prevails. ActionAid Bangladesh has been working to fight the Rohingya crisis since the beginning of the influx. ActionAid Bangladesh is primarily working to ensure the protection of women, adolescent girls and children by establishing Women Safe Spaces (WSS) along with child-friendly corners as part of the WSS.
Core Areas Include:

• Ensure protection through preventing Gender Based Violence (GBV) and abuse by offering psychosocial support and counselling.
• Providing need-based first-aid medical support as well as referral services.
• Providing dignity kits, blankets, tents, solar lights, Compact Rice Husk (alternative cooking fuel) and WASH facilities through installation of tube-wells, toilets and bathing spaces.

In addition, ActionAid Bangladesh is implementing a women-centered emergency response to support the Rohingya refugees, focusing on the protection rights of women and girls. Adhering to international human rights law/humanitarian principles, we uphold the rights of the Rohingya for safe, dignified and voluntary repatriation as well as their right to adequate and appropriate humanitarian aid and assistance while in displacement. To this end, we have been focusing our advocacy efforts on identifying and communicating critical humanitarian needs with the participation of the stakeholders. We are also capturing the knowledge and sharing the main concerns and circumstances of this crisis with the local, national and international audiences; for the benefit of all stakeholders. We hope that these efforts will contribute to sensitizing the national and international decision-makers and the civil society to support this cause.