I was heartened to see thousands of ActionAid Australia supporters give generously to our end of financial year appeal to help women affected by the Rohingya refugee crisis in Bangladesh. I wanted to update you on what has been happening in the camps and how your support is helping women affected to respond to the ongoing crisis.
Together supporters helped contribute over $250,000 towards ActionAid’s vital work, your support has proved to be crucial. In late June, heavy monsoon rains began to fall on the Cox’s Bazar refugee camps, presenting huge challenges for the hundreds of thousands of people living in there, many of whom are women and children.
In addition to much-needed donations, we received hundreds of messages of solidarity from you to Rohingya women. These messages of solidarity are currently on their way to Bangladesh where they will be delivered to women living in the camps. See some of the beautiful messages below.
Thanks to our supporters, ActionAid and local partners have been able to reach over 65,000 Rohingya refugees with our emergency response. ActionAid has also been supporting women-led committees to ensure the specific needs of women are being met and their voices heard in the response to this crisis.
Despite this, there is still so much to be done. The monsoon season has wreaked havoc on the camps, destroying homes and endangering lives. Women and girls continue to bear the brunt, facing high risks of gender-based violence, trafficking and early marriage.
Though there are many challenges, we remain determined to make sure women have access to the vital support they need to take charge of their lives. I cannot thank our supporters enough for helping to make the voices of women heard in Cox’s Bazar.
In Solidarity,
Holly Miller
Head of Global Engagement
ActionAid Australia
Read Luchie’s story of resilience from our Spring Newsletter