Major Initiative to Empower Rohingya Youth and Women

The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and the Republic of Korea have announced a groundbreaking partnership to empower Rohingya youth and women in Bangladesh. This collaboration will support safe spaces for adolescents and young people to gain vital skills and knowledge, address the risks of child marriage and gender-based violence, and enhance their sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR).

The Korean Government committed USD $3 million to UNFPA to support adolescents, youth, and women in the Rohingya refugee camp and host communities in Bangladesh. This significant contribution will bolster the Joint Response Plan, by preventing risks to child marriage and gender-based violence (GBV) for Rohingya Refugees in Cox’s Bazar, Bashan Char, and surrounding Bangladeshi host communities. Additionally, the funds will directly benefit Rohingya youth across eight refugee camps.  

The project, “Combating Early and Forced Child Marriage in Rohingya Refugee Camps: Non-Formal Education in Safe Spaces,” aims to improve the knowledge, education, and attitudes of Rohingya and Bangladeshi adolescents and youth. It will focus on their rights, relationships, sexual and reproductive health (SRH), and functional literacy. 

Thanks to this historic support from Korea, UNFPA will sustain its Adolescents and Youth Centres across the eight camps, including one in Bashan Char. The centers will provide educational sessions, life-skills training, and adolescent-responsive services. The initiative will also help Rohingya girls and women by producing reusable menstrual products and introducing menstrual cups addressing waste management challenges in the crowded camps.

As the Rohingya influx has transformed into a protracted crisis and with many other humanitarian crises in the world competing for international attention and resources, there has been a significant decrease in humanitarian funding. While mainstream education has been provided on a limited scale to children and very young adolescents, older adolescents, and young people have often been overlooked, making them more vulnerable to early and forced child marriage, early pregnancies, and GBV.

“In this crucial moment, UNFPA deeply values the Republic of Korea's leadership and commitment to addressing the pressing needs of Rohingya women and girls,” said Masaki Watabe, Representative a.i. of UNFPA Bangladesh during a signing ceremony at the Embassy of Korea in Dhaka. 

“Korea’s new partnership with UNFPA clearly shows that the Korean Government places great importance on issues related to women and girls and demonstrates the country’s firm and growing commitment to human rights and gender equality,” said the Korean Ambassador to Bangladesh, Park Young-sik.