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Author: Magfuzur Rahman Shana
Last March, the Cox’s Bazar Gender in Humanitarian Action Working Group in collaboration with the Office of the Refugee Relief and Repatriation Commissioner (RRRC) hosted an open dialogue entitled “Invest in Women: Accelerate Progress" in celebration of International Women's Day (IWD) 2024.
Embracing the global theme of investing in women, the event brought together camps-in-charges; Armed Police Battalion personnel from different camps; RRRC officials; representatives of women’s rights organizations and women-led organizations as well as the UN.
The discussions focused on the catalytic importance of investing in women in order to changing women’s status and rights and ensuring effectiveness of the humanitarian response; on priorities related to gender disparities and empowerment of women; and the need to further strengthen partnerships and responsibility sharing to advance gender equality in Cox’s Bazar.
“52 per cent of women and girls in the camps lag behind in different aspects. The government encourages deploying women government officials. The camp environment should be women-friendly. Women are the center of the community,” stated Mohammed Mizanur Rahman, Cox’s Bazar Refugee Relief and Repatriation Commissioner (RRRC).
Speaking at the event, UN Resident Coordinator Gwyn Lewis stated: “The Global theme this year is “Invest in Women”. It is necessary to work on equal rights and equal opportunities for women and girls, gender equality and women’s empowerment for sustainable development.”
“International Women’s Day is a day for us to give force to a simple, but enduring idea – that women must be equal in status and rights to men. That we must do everything we can to make that happen – across the world, here in Cox’s Bazar, and in the camps,” stated Silja Rajander, Head of UN Women’s sub office in Cox’s Bazar.
During the IWD celebration, UN Women collaborated with the Gender in Humanitarian Action Working Group and the Inter-Sector Coordination Group to amplify the voices of women and girls in Cox’s Bazar through a social media campaign that brought together UN Agencies and development partners, including UNICEF, ILO, Rohingya Women Welfare Society, Oxfam, and Global Network of Women Peacebuilders.
