Over 870,000 Rohingya refugees reside in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh. The large influx of refugees has significantly impacted the lives of the host communities. Tensions between the host communities and refugees have added strain on social services, natural resources, fears of increased crime, encroachment on limited economic resources and livelihood opportunities. UNICEF recognizes the importance of fostering positive inter-communal relations as negative perceptions of ‘the other’ tend to generate hostility. Engagement has proven to improve perceptions and relations between divided groups. Currently, C4D is supporting the Local Governance for Children (LGC) Programme: where UNICEF, along with partner agencies is strengthening programming among host communities with the aim of reducing tensions between refugee and host communities and providing services and opportunities for redress between host communities and their local governments. The programme seeks to enhance the capacity of Local Government Institutions (LGIs) to foster local-level planning ensuring community participation, particularly at the Union Parishad (UP) and Upazila Parishad (UPz) levels.

Building on existing interventions the partnership with Centre for Peace and Justice (CPJ) will seek to explore further the social, cultural, and structural barriers that inhibit positive engagement and develop interventions creating space for inter-communal dialogue and engagement. It is expected to alleviate social tensions and build bridges that promote peaceful coexistence.

CPJ is the only multi-disciplinary academic institute in Bangladesh that has experience in promoting social cohesion through engaging the host and Rohingya community in Cox’s Bazar. It has established Refugee Study Unit (RSU) to undertake research and other activities related to Rohingya and host communities aiming to support appropriate and empirically-informed responses by policymakers, donors and the humanitarian community to meet the needs of conflict-affected populations and refugees as a knowledge partner focusing on four thematic areas: participatory action research, context and situation analysis, research and knowledge repository and higher learning in fragile settings. CPJ’s working experiences with adolescents and youths in Rohingya camps and host communities will add value to further expedite the programme to achieve results

Aim of Project:

The programme will identify the key drivers and protective factors that contribute to the social cohesion among host and Rohingya communities through Participatory Action Research (PAR). The PAR findings will support the development of project-level theory of change which will be implemented throughout the project period and provide a foundation for further intervention in building a cohesive society in Cox’s Bazar.

For further details, please contact: Rashadul Hasan, Project Manager, [email protected]