By Dhaka Tribune

Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh– To commemorate World Refugee Day, UN Women hosted “Aware through Art” workshop at Balukhali, camp-18 for women and girl refugees to exercise their right to a life of dignity.

The event, held at the Multi-Purpose Women’s Centre, incorporates art and awareness on gender equality in an interactive style so that Rohingya women and girls can express and share their ideas about womanhood. The Rohingya refugee participants were joined by female guest artists to illustrate their aspirations in art form.

Photo: Courtesy

“Events of this kind which allows the refugee women and girls to vent out their inner feelings about their own lives and aspirations are a great opportunity, not only for humanitarian agencies to realize their real needs but also for the refugee women to be empowered.” said Dilruba Haider,Head of UN Women’s Sub-Office at Cox’s Bazar, praising the Refugee women and girls for their courage and resilience.

In addition to the art workshop, an Open Dialogue between the participants was held at the centre, highlighting the myriad of daily challenges that are unique to refugee women and discussed collective efforts that should be made to improve their well-being.

UN Women in Bangladesh is supporting the Government of Bangladesh with the Rohingya humanitarian crisis response. It has developed a humanitarian response programme in partnership with the Ministry of Women and Children Affairs and ActionAid to meet the specific needs of the most vulnerable and marginalized Rohingya women and girl refugees and the women and girls in the host communities affected by the refugee influx in Cox’s Bazar.

Photo: Courtesy

UN Women in Bangladesh is supporting the Government of Bangladesh with the Rohingya humanitarian crisis response

The importance of participation and representation of women to express their needs and concerns are often overlooked in humanitarian emergencies. Leveraging women’s participation and leadership capacities is not only a way to ensure humanitarian efforts respond to the specific needs and vulnerabilities of affected communities – whether women, men, girls or boys- but also a strategic investment in whole community resilience.

 “I feel safe and comfortable here. I’m making many new friends! Our tent is small, hot and crowded; so I like coming here every day to participate in various activities ,” expressed one workshop participant.