Since August 25, 2017, almost 750,000 Rohingya refugees have taken shelter in Bangladesh to escape persecution in their own country, bringing the refugee population in Cox's Bazar to around 1.1 million. During the reporting years, Bangladesh has had to bear the greatest impact of the worst humanitarian crisis in recent times. Similarly, the adjacent host communities have also become vulnerable with losing of their lands, sudden rise of the living costs, and massive degradation of the environment. NGO Forum has responded significantly with the support from the development partners like UNHCR, UNICEF, AAR Japan, Helvetas Swiss Intercooperation and ensured the quality WASH services including solid waste and fecal sludge management, livelihood support for the vulnerable communities, provided Biogas sanitation and cooking facilities. It has also provided the Protection Supports for Rohingya Refugees and host communities in Cox’s Bazar to mitigate the risks against any kind of violence that may a ect the lives of vulnerable women and children of the Rohingya community. NGO Forum’s intervention for reducing Gender Based Violence (GBV) and Child Protection initiatives in Rohingya Refugee camp area was significant during the reporting period. The major programmatic operations under its protection initiatives were number of awareness raising on protection issues in refugee context and psychosocial support for the identified trauma & necessitous victims, mainly targeting children, adolescents and women.

This activity was mainly associated with support to cases by providing Psychological First Aid (PFA), Counseling, di erent kinds of therapeutic sessions (Work therapy), Safety planning with the beneficiary and parents as well in case of children, referral support and establish linked the case and concerned service center. The ‘Women Friendly Space’ and the Child protection sub-sector services through ’Child Friendly Space’ complemented in the interventions. NGO Forum has provided dignified sanitation and cooking facilities in the Rohingya camps by installing forty latrine blocks of five to eight cabins, each connected to twelve sets of biogas plants with a kitchen. The biogas plants consist of a biogas reactor, a hydraulic chamber and a slurry pit. This added a high value given the negative impact of wood cutting and use of firewood where risk of harassment, erosion and smoke emission when cooking reduced. In the early periods of Rohingya Refugees arrival in 2017, the emergency requirement was to improve the access of safe water and sanitation facilities of the makeshift settlements. The host community was also provided by better construction practices for tube wells and by the water distribution network. Though water scarcity is acute at Teknaf but NGO Forum has provided chlorinated water through a Piped Water Supply System along with earlier measures to distribute water purification tablets to treatment at household level and promoting good hygiene practices through di erent promotional activities. During the reporting period, di erent types and number of latrines, Bath house, garbage pits, landfill sites, faecal sludge treatment plant, solid waste management facilities and other WASH facilities was constructed including operation & maintenance of di erent facilities. NGO Forum has installed Anaerobic Baed Reactor System to ensure safely managed of Faecal Sludge, which is in operation since 2018 to tackle Faecal Sludge generated from pit latrines and septic tanks. Under the goal of ‘Protection and mixed solutions’ NGO Forum has ensured that people lives in satisfactory conditions of sanitation and hygiene, Supply of potable water increased or maintained, Peaceful co-existence with local communities. NGO Forum’s interventions has also addressed the vulnerable people who were required special attentions like people with disabilities, elderly, pregnant women. 

Initiatives taken for Child Protection

• Reduction of armed violence
• Reduction of Child labor and Child marriage
• Protect from Sexually abuse
• Child protection and information communication technologies
• Protect from recruitment by armed force or armed group
• Child tra­cking
• Care for the child without parent and children with disabilities
• Child friendly spaces
• Education for Children

Initiatives taken for the protection of Aged people

• Taken them safely in a safe place in the emergency situation
• Ensure that they are not hungry
• Proper shelter for them
• Open space for recreation

Initiatives taken for Women Protection

• Reduction of Gender Based Violence
• To enable them to understand the connections between poverty, vulnerability and gender
• Orient them to develop strategies and ways of working which would facilitate women’s empowerment
• Make them understand on how structural discrimination, embedded in social, political, ideological, economic and cultural institutions results in the widespread violation of women’s rights
• To foster a commitment to the justice and necessity of the rights based approach
• Physical protection, security and dignity of person
• Basic needs - food, water, healthcare, sanitation, shelter
• Economic right to livelihood and to support one’s family
• Social and cultural rights - access to education and freedom to practice culture etc.
• Call to ensure safe water, sanitation for unprivileged people

Sani Mart Centre

NGO Forum has involved the MHM volunteers in producing sanitary napkins, conduct MHM sessions, house hold visit and distribute pads among the menstruating girls and women. The centre is equipped of cotton refining machine, autoclave machine, sealing machine, sewing machine, organic cotton for pad, net cotton, gadar.

Support to existing Sani Marts

• Training and Refresher training on low cost napkin production & market promotion
• Upgradation of solar power system of Sanimart Production Center
• Regular Operation & Maintenance of Learning Center & Child Friendly Space Materials (Cloths, Cottons and others) for the production of under garments and napkin
• Regular Operation & Maintenance of Sanimart Production Center