Good Practices Brochure: Stateless Women and Girls
Rohingya women’s leadership and participation in
camp-level community representation structures in
Cox’s Bazar
In 2019, Rohingya women leaders in refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar
established a collective platform for joint advocacy and action to raise
the voices and demands of women and girls that make up 52 per cent
of the refugee population. The Rohingya women leaders’ umbrella
network consists of over 50 elected, self-organized and mobilized
Rohingya women leaders and groups representing women and girls
from across all 25 camps.
The umbrella network was made possible through support from the
United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment
of Women (UN Women) to strengthen women’s leadership through
training, mentoring, coaching and linking women to community
representation structures and decision-making committees in
coordination with other members of the intersectoral Gender in
Humanitarian Action Working Group (GiHA WG), co-chaired by UN
Women and UNHCR.
In 2019, UN Women led the roll-out of women’s leadership training
for over 1,000 Rohingya women across all camps through 30 United
Nations agencies, international NGOs and member organizations
of GiHA WG. In advance, over 100 trainers from GiHA WG member
organizations were trained as trainers by UN Women on women’s
empowerment, participation and leadership based on a module
developed in consultation with Rohingya women and men. One of
the key demands of the umbrella network is to increase women’s
participation in camp-level community representation structures.
Following the training in 2019, six Rohingya women stood as blockleader candidates for pilot elections in two of the camps and were
successfully elected by their community members.
To gain a more complete understanding of perspectives of women
and girls, the GiHA WG Women’s Leadership Task Force, led by UN
Women, worked with the Inter Sector Coordination Group (ISCG)
Site Management Community Representation Group to conduct
community consultations. In all, 800 Rohingya women and adolescent
girls, including women volunteers and elected women, across 16
camps were consulted on their preferences, demands and issues in
community leadership and representation.
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