Rohingya refugees are reported to have been physically and mentally traumatized by the violence, including sexual and gender-based violence. ActionAid Bangladesh (AAB) is specifically working to ensure the rights of women and children, and safeguarding them against the trauma of the crisis by building Women Friendly Spaces (WFS) and child-friendly corners as part of the WFS. In addition to looking after their nutrition and WASH needs, the WFS will also provide emotional support, ensuring that their psyches are not permanently impacted in a negative manner due to the violence they lived through. Alongside providing shelter and WASH needs, AAB is willing to provide dignity kits that are geared toward the cold weather of the winter months. Additionally, the women friendly spaces work to prevent Gender-based violence (GBV) and abuse and offer counselling to women who have faced abuse or violence. Apart from directly working to met the immediate needs of the women refugees, AAB is also concerned about the environmental risks and negative impact this refugee crisis may have on the environment. Moreover food which is being cooked inside the makeshift shelters made out of tarpaulin are making the women, children and adolescent sick as there are no ventilation for fume. Under the scope of this project, ActionAid will construct a common cooking space which will cater to the families in its catchment area. The common cooking space will have 20 burners which will utilise Natural gas cylinders as fuel, this will eliminate the toxic fume generated from burning biomass. In addition, An onsite, nutrition expert will be appointed who will develop capacity of the women/men who are using the facility for cooking, to ensure a healthy balanced diet. The facility will ensure proper ventilation and appropriate measures will be taken to ensure proper ventilation and channelling of the toxic fumes. The gas cylinders will be kept in a separate shed ensuring all the fire safety. ActionAid, partnering with local youth entrepreneurs, will install locally made solar lanterns which can provide backup of 9 to 10 hours. This will ensure low cost of the lanterns and technical support for its maintenance. We are targeting to provide solar lanterns in the common spaces like, toilets, bathing spaces, road and also to some targeted households

The main objectives of the project are:

• To ensure the protection of the environment and women’s health through alternative cooking facility.
• To reduce the prevalence of GBV and ensure the safety and security by installing solar lanterns.

DEC Phase 1 People Fleeing Myanmar

Over half a million forcibly displaced Myanmar nationals are now concentrated in spontaneous

settlements in Cox’s Bazar. The influx has been so rapid that need is well in excess of available resources and provision meaning that basic minimum standards for emergencies are not being met, compromising the health, safety, and the rights of the displaced Rohingya population. Coordination and provision is improving but much more still needs to be done if the protection needs of women and adolescent girls are to be addressed, and large scale public health crises (i.e. cholera outbreaks) averted.

AAB works to ensure the rights of women and girls and women’s leadership in emergencies, at its core. Therefore ActionAid’s response will focus on protection by establishing Women’s Safe Spaces through which to deliver services such as psycho-social counselling and potentially clinical services for women and adolescent girls. Around this ActionAid will deliver life-saving, WASH, food, Shelter and NFI assistance in line with needs and gaps highlighted and discussed by all Sectors.\

Phase 1 activities focus on meeting life-saving and urgent needs, centered on four outcome areas related to water provision, sanitation, food provision, and protection for women and adolescent girls. ActionAid will work and deliver activities with the partner YPSA and other agencies such as IRC to deliver assistance to the affected population.

Outcomes will be achieved through the delivery and realization of specific

outputs as described here:

• Portable water: ActionAid will install 20 deep tube wells to provide clean and safe water to a catchment population of 2000 households, or approximately 10,000 people. The emphasis is on depth given the potential for groundwater contamination with shallower wells, for example from latrines, as well as the potential for shallow wells not reaching the water table or aquifer as this is diminished through over use or limited replenishment through rain. Easy access to water will also reduce workload for women and ensure they are not exposed to vulnerability outside the camps. The water will also facilitate child protection particularly on management of health concerns.
• Sanitation and hygiene promotion:  Sanitation will be improved through the installation of 50 latrines serving 1250 households or an approximate camp population of 6,250 people. ActionAid will complement this provision through the establishment of latrine watch groups, hygiene promotion activities, and the provision of hygiene kits containing key NFI The hygiene kit composition will be determined by Sector standards. 3 bathing facilities will be installed serving the needs of 300 women and adolescent girls.
• Provision of food: A food package will be provided to 1000 households in coordination with the Food Security Sector and WFP. The food package will be defined as per Sector

guidance and WFP needs. To date agencies have been providing a complementary package to supplement the provision made by WFP.

• Protection: A Women’s Safe Space (WSS) will be established (Output D1) in which women and adolescent girls can come to receive psycho-social counselling and support, and potentially other clinical services. Whilst the intention is to establish a one stop shop on the WSS, a referral mechanism will be established to other services. Dignity kits will also be distributed to 3000 women and adolescent girls (D2).