UNICEF ADVOCACY ALERT | August 2019 UNICEF ADVOCACY ALERT | August 2019 BEYOND SURVIVAL SURVIVAL ROHINGYA REFUGEE ROHINGYACHILDREN REFUGEE IN BANGLADESH CHILDREN IN BANGLADESH WANT TO LEARN WANT TO LEARN UNICEF Bangladesh thanks its partners and donors without whom its work on behalf of Rohingya children would not be possible Cover photo: Children at a UNICEF-supported Learning Centre in Kutupalong refugee camp © UNICEF/Brown Published by UNICEF Bangladesh BSL Offi ce Complex, 1 Minto Road, Dhaka – 1000, Bangladesh © United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) August 2019 #AChildisAChild BEYOND SURVIVAL ROHINGYA REFUGEE CHILDREN IN BANGLADESH WANT TO LEARN Refugee Population in Cox’s Bazar District April 2019 | Sources: ISCG, RRRC, UNHCR, IOM-NPM, Site Management Sector | Projection: BUTM CONTENTS 4 BEYOND SURVIVAL 6 Frustration in a fragile setting 8 DESPERATE TO LEARN 10 First steps towards quality learning 12 Big issues remain 14 Adolescents risk missing out 18 A CLARION CALL FOR EDUCATION 20 MEETING THE NEEDS OF ROHINGYA REFUGEE CHILDREN 22 Building bridges between the communities 24 Darkness exposes women and girls to danger 27 At the mercy of traffi ckers 30 Vigilance against the threat of cholera 32 Youngest children remain at risk 34 Piped networks give more families access to safe water 38 CALL TO ACTION 42 UNICEF BANGLADESH ROHINGYA RESPONSE HIGHLIGHTS 2017-19 43 UNICEF FUNDING NEEDS 2019 Monsoon rainclouds loom overhead as Mohamed Amin (facing camera centre) and other family members rebuild their shelter which was destroyed during heavy monsoon rains on the night of July 6 2019. In the space of 25 days in July, authorities in the vast Rohingya camps had to assist over 5,700 refugee households with damaged shelters. © UNICEF/UN0325315/Brown 4 UNICEF ADVOCACY ALERT AUGUST 2019 BEYOND SURVIVAL BEYOND SURVIVAL 5 FRUSTRATION IN A FRAGILE SETTING For the last two years, more than 900,000 and young people are clamouring for more stateless Rohingya refugees living in the than survival; they want quality education that camps of southeast Bangladesh have focused can provide a path to a more hopeful future. on staying alive. “I studied six subjects back in Myanmar,” Ruma Akter, 10, New infrastructure and efforts aimed at said Abdullah, 18, who lives in the Kutupalong picks spinach leaves that her family grow providing the basics of health care, nutrition, refugee camp, the largest in the world. “But on the roof of their and water, sanitation and hygiene, have when I arrived here, there was no way I could shelter in Kutupalong improved conditions for the children and continue.” refugee. Many families grow vegetables to families who fl ed persecution and violence in “If we do not get education in the camps, supplement the rations Myanmar. of rice and dal that I think our situation is going to be dire,” he they receive from aid But as the refugee crisis drags on, children added. agencies. © UNICEF/UN0331082/Nybo 6 UNICEF ADVOCACY ALERT AUGUST 2019 © UNICEF/Brown Market in the The Rohingya found refuge among an already fatalities, including six children, because of Moynerghena refugee vulnerable population in the Cox’s Bazar monsoon weather. camp. district. As of August 2019, a total of 1.2 The root causes of the violence that drove the million people – including 683,000 children – Rohingya from Myanmar remain unresolved. were in need of humanitarian assistance. Conditions have not been established that would allow the refugees to return to their The vast majority of the recent arrivals live homes. The result is that the Rohingya in fl imsy bamboo and tarpaulin shelters in refugees will remain in Bangladesh for the what is effectively the world’s largest refugee immediate future. camp. It is a place where – despite a sense of stability -- the dangers of everyday life remain “If anyone goes back to Myanmar, there is all too real. no safety,” said Ro Sawyeddollah, 18. “Some people think to go to a foreign country, but Between 21 April and 18 July 2019, refugee it’s not good to try to leave. At least we are camp authorities recorded 42 injuries and 10 together here.” BEYOND SURVIVAL 7 © UNICEF/UN0326953/Brown DESPERATE TO LEARN 8 UNICEF ADVOCACY ALERT AUGUST 2019 Rozina Aktar teaches Level 4 students at a UNICEF-supported Learning Centre in Kutupalong, where a new curriculum is being rolled out. “Education takes people from the darkness and brings them into the light,” said Rozina. “What drives me is the students’ ambition to learn.” BEYOND SURVIVAL 9 EDUCATION FIRST STEPS TOWARDS QUALITY LEARNING For children and young people, the protracted enrolled in 2,167 Learning Centres. state of limbo has awoken an intense desire At the same time, this leaves a gap of over for learning opportunities that prepare them 25,000 children not attending any learning for the future. programmes, while an additional 640 learning When the huge infl ux of refugees began centres are needed. in 2017, UNICEF and partners responded Furthermore, an estimated 97 per cent of by setting up large numbers of Learning adolescents and youth aged 15 to 18 years Centres in the camps. For children unable are not enrolled in any type of learning facility. to fi nd space in the Centres, other options have emerged: religious schools (madrasas) Parents are concerned that the longer their provide free lessons in Koranic studies, Arabic children are deprived of education, the and other subjects; and private and group greater the risk that they will be exposed to tutors offer classes for those who can afford exploitation and abuse. them. “Educated people have a value wherever they By June 2019, the overall education sector are,” said Mohamed Hussein, who sends two had provided non-formal education to of his children to a Learning Centre in Camp Teachers like 19 year-old 280,000 children aged 4 to 14. UNICEF 18. “Whether my son goes back to Myanmar Ruma Akhtar have been and its partners have ensured access to or to Malaysia or anywhere else, the same is recruited from the local learning for 192,000 of those children, true.” Bangladeshi community. 10 UNICEF ADVOCACY ALERT AUGUST 2019 © UNICEF/UN0326959/Brown In a Learning Centre classroom decorated At this Learning Centre, and in a growing with colourful fl oor mats, wall charts and a number of others, UNICEF and partners chalkboard, children sit in a semicircle on have begun efforts to provide a more the fl oor. As Mohammad Alam, 13, ponders comprehensive learning approach. a math equation in the exercise book before him, he hesitates and furrows his “In the beginning, without materials or a brow. Glancing up, he catches the attention curriculum framework of any kind, Learning of his teacher, Rozina Aktar, who moves Centres were mostly about play and to Mohamed’s side to help as the other drawing,” said Charles Avelino, Education students continue their work in near silence. Manager with UNICEF Cox’s Bazar Field Offi ce. “Now we have turned a corner. We’re At fi rst glance, the scene in the Learning starting to put in place competency-based Centre may not seem that different from two learning, starting with the lower (grade) years ago, when the emergency response to levels. This marks a qualitative jump towards the infl ux of refugees began. But Mohammad the kind of education these children need.” Religious schools have helped offset has noticed a change. The qualitative jump involves learning the shortage of formal learning opportunities “Now we have a better plan (for learning),” materials developed by UNICEF and in the camps. he said. “It’s not like before.” partners as part of the Learning Competency © UNICEF/UN0326974/Brown BEYOND SURVIVAL 11 Framework and Approach (LCFA). Teachers centre where Mohammad attends classes is – some from local Bangladesh communities one of fi ve set on a ridge overlooking part of or support staff recruited from among the the camp. refugees – receive training on content, pedagogy and student assessments. Mohammad is not the only student to appreciate the change. His classmate, In addition, greater interaction between 10-year-old Thahira, has embraced the new teachers and students is encouraged and materials provided in Burmese and English. study materials provide structure to the lessons. Multiple centres are now clustered “I feel that now I’m making progress,” she in one location, allowing for peer training. The said. Mohammad Alam is one of the fi rst children to be taught using the Learning Competency Framework and Approach (LCFA) developed by UNICEF and partners. © UNICEF/UN0326954/Brown BIG ISSUES REMAIN Despite improvements, the scale of the About 640 additional Learning Centres are education challenge remains formidable. still needed, mainly in the more densely- populated camps. In the congested camps, space restrictions have curtailed educational opportunities for Education for girls lags even further behind. younger children. In most cases, when girls reach puberty, 12 UNICEF ADVOCACY ALERT AUGUST 2019 © UNICEF/UN0326969/Brown Children at a UNICEF they are withdrawn from school by their “At the moment, we are trying to provide learning space families. Surveys suggest that changing this education within tight restrictions,” said in Camp 18, in Kutupalong refugee longstanding practice will be very diffi cult. Tomoo Hozumi, UNICEF Bangladesh camp. However, initiatives such as single sex shifts Representative. “It may not be as holistic as in Learning Centres, are being tested. we would like but we simply cannot wait until conditions are perfect.” The LCFA is being rolled out progressively. So far, Levels 1 and 2 have been approved by “What we ask of both governments is the Government of Bangladesh, while Levels fl exibility to allow the use of their educational 3 and 4 are being piloted.