December 2017 – Following the outbreak of violence in Northern Rakhine State in August 2017, more than 647,000 Rohingya crossed from Myanmar into Bangladesh over a period of several months.These refugees joined some 300,000 Rohingya already in Bangladesh following earlier waves of displacement. The majority of the new arrivals are women and children, and of the total caseload, there is an estimated 120,000 pregnant and lactating women requiring urgent assistance. With GAC’s support, CARE Canada is helping to address the immediate needs of refugees in Cox’s Bazar district, including the specific needs of women and girls. Project activities include: 1) providing sexual and reproductive health services; 2) preventing gender-based violence; 3) improving access to essential and gender-sensitive water, sanitation and hygiene facilities; and 4) improving the safety of vulnerable people, including women and girls – for example, by providing additional lighting at night in key areas of refugee camps.
The expected outcomes for this project include: (1) increased access to life-saving sexual, reproductive and health services to men, women, boys and girls; (2) improved community-based approaches to preventing gender-based violence in target locations; and (3) increased access to gender-sensitive water, sanitation and hygiene services. The expected ultimate outcome is lives saved, suffering alleviated and human dignity maintained in countries experiencing humanitarian crisis or that are facing acute food insecurity.
