ACTIVISTA Bangladesh and ActionAid Bangladesh’s Communication Unit in collaboration with United Nations Youth and the Students Association of Bangladesh (UNYSAB) were responsible for planning this unique event.

Many say “youth are the future leaders” but I must say, youth are the leaders of today not tomorrow. They have proved it once again during the Model Youth Parliament held in Dhaka from 5th to 8th March 2011.

When I first came to know about HIV/AIDS, I could relate it to nothing but genocide. Nothing much has changed over the years, my point of view is somewhat the same till date. I mean what can possibly be said about a disease where patients kill patients?

The heavy downpour of the last few weeks has triggered floods and water-logging in Satkhira, Khulna and Jessore districts displacing over 1.25 million people with colossal damage to crops, infrastructures and livelihoods. The figures projected by the Non Governmental Organisations (NGOs) are varying from that of the national newspapers. In present circumstances, it is difficult to ascertain accurately – which is why International NGOs are sharing in respect of information and assessment.

From an early age, I experienced some of the problems of women’s mobility in the city myself. Whether a woman or girl is working outdoors or a homemaker, educated or empowered, the situation is broadly the same. We often must begin the day thinking about how to dress in order to be safe, and then where to sit, dawn or dusk, to use public transport or not, and so many other issues (that amount to personal defence) just in order to move within our own communities. This is not freedom to access our cities.

In April 2018 ActionAid and partners adopted the Dhaka Declaration at the International Conference on the Rohingya Refugee Crisis and pledged to uphold its clauses. Article 14 of the Declaration holds us committed to ‘emphasize the need to constructively build on the strengths of the Rohingya population, particularly women and girls, and engage them as leaders in the design of any future sustainable development solutions in line with the SDGs’. Today on the eve of the one year ‘anniversary’ of this historic exodus and after a year of frenzied humanitarian intervention and advocacy, it is time to take stock of where we stand

Background The current Rohingya population taking refuge in Bangladesh amounts to over 1 million, with the majority comprising women and children. They are one of the most vulnerable groups of people deprived of basic human rights in the world today.

In this sad world today, about 65 million people are refugees or forcefully displaced, according to a UNHCR report. The reality is grave for a person seeking refuge in another country, who do not have any guarantee of coming back to their own land, which they use to call home once.

It was a hot summer afternoon at the Balukhali 2 Camp. I was talking to a few girls there. I wanted to know about their life in Rohingya camps in Cox’s Bazar. And there she was. Let’s say her name was Ruby. Now, Ruby was smiling shyly while the other girls were teasing her. Being curious, I wanted to know what the reason was. One of the girls said Ruby talks to her would-be husband all night long. And for that, she keeps four cell phones. The girl is only at her adolescence; 15 or 16 years old at best. I reminded Ruby of the proper age for a girl to get married. After all, she was still a child. To my happy surprise, Ruby smiled back and said, “I am not marrying now. I will be 18 before he will come to meet me.”