COUNTRY / PROBLEM
The Rohingya people are a Muslim minority that has been persecuted by Buddhists in Myanmar (formerly Burma) for decades. After years of repression, lack of access to health care and education, Rohingyas were forced to flee the country in massive numbers. In August 2017, there was an escalation of violence against Rohingyas, including sexual violence on a huge scale. Fleeing from the Burmese army, hundreds of thousands of Rohingyas took refuge in the Cox’s Bazar region of Bangladesh, where the world’s largest refugee camp was established. Currently, as reported by United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the Rohingya population living in Bangladesh’s refugee camps experience a particularly high level of psychological distress, leading to an increasing number of people suffering from depressive and anxiety disorders.
Additionally, Bangladesh is facing unbound troubles due to human trafficking issues. Organised criminal networks generate a vast profit by using the opportunity of demand-supply of manpower for labour and sex trafficking. As a result, a significant number of women and girls of Bangladesh are sold at brothels, forced into sex trade and to inhuman slavery through trafficking.
ORGANISATION
HOPE Foundation for Women & Children of Bangladesh was established in 1999 with the aim of providing medical care to pregnant women and children. The Foundation has been helping Rohingyas since the very beginning of the current phase of the humanitarian crisis in Bangladesh. Thanks to the creation of an aid system that includes a hospital, clinics, and medical transport, the Foundation has helped thousands of patients.
Bangladesh National Woman's Lawyers Association (BNWLA) is a non-profit organization established in 1979 through committed efforts of some of the most prominent women-lawyers in Bangladesh. The main objective of BNWLA is to ensure gender equality and social justice to all women and children of Bangladesh. BNWLA has a vast experience and expertise in how to combat human trafficking, repatriation of the survivors from the neighbouring countries and their reintegration within the family and society.
PROJECTS
Kulczyk Foundation has supported HOPE Foundation for Women & Children of Bangladesh by contributing to the project aimed at improving access to mental health and psychological support services, with a particular focus on women and children living in Bangladesh, including the country’s significant Rohingya community.
Kulczyk Foundation has also provided support to Bangladesh National Woman's Lawyers Association (BNWLA) and its project aimed at offering protection and rehabilitation to victims of human trafficking as well as those who are at risk of commercial sexual exploitation in Bangladesh.
