Help Rohingya Refugees Become New Moms Safely

It has been four years since the Rohingya ethnic group have fled persecution in Myanmar for safety in Bangladesh. Today, more than 800,000 Rohingya refugees call the camps in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh home. 

With your support, UNFPA has been providing care in the camps to Rohingya women and girls who face challenges like high rates of child marriage, a lack of menstrual products, and limited safe spaces for women. One way that UNFPA has addressed these challenges was by building 28 women-friendly safe spaces.

$100 funds a community midwife in a clinic or safe space for one week. 

These safe spaces are critical because many Rohingya women and girls have experienced gender-based violence, including rape and child marriage. The safe spaces are a place for them to receive mental health care, build community, and process their trauma. At the safe spaces, women and girls can also receive sexual and reproductive health care like prenatal checkups and family planning. 

Hamida was 27 when she found safety in Bangladesh's refugee camps. That was also when she began attending a safe space and learned about issues like safe motherhood, healthy relationships, and human trafficking. 

You can provide three women with all the supplies they need to give birth safely during a crisis for $15. 

Now, Hamida is a community educator and mentor at the safe spaces. She says, “Through my efforts to help other women and girls in the camps, I have gained the respect of my community, family members, and husband. At first, no one listened to me. However gradually, they started to embrace me as they understood that information gives them choices and opportunities,"

Because of your support for Hamida's work and the work of others at UNFPA safe spaces, Rohingya women and girls now have access to the lifesaving care they need. 

Thank you for your ongoing support of Rohingya refugees. Your gift of $150 provides one clinic with the supplies, medications, and equipment necessary to safely manage obstetric emergencies. 

It was love at first sight for Mohammed and Kawser, two Rohingya refugees. At first, though, Mohammed was nervous. He thought, "She was too pretty for me, and I was not sure if I could handle her beauty.” But now, the two are married. 

They live with Mohammed's family and have recently had their first child together. Luckily, Kawser's pregnancy went well, despite the sometimes unideal conditions of the refugee camp where she lives. 

Just $15 provides three women like Kawser with an emergency birth kit, which provides them with the tools they need to safely give birth, even if a doctor is not available.

UNFPA has championed a program for young mothers like Kawser, where they learn the warning signs of dangerous pregnancy and childbirth complications. The mothers also receive prenatal care and learn how to navigate new motherhood, advocate for themselves in their in-laws' households, and how to access family planning. 

For $25 you can provide a woman with the supplies she needs to care for herself and her baby for six months after birth.

Kawser's mother-in-law has seen a massive difference between her experience with motherhood and her daughter-in-law's. She said, “She delivered in a health facility, and I am helping her in cooking and fetching water. In Myanmar, I delivered at home and bore the birth of four children without anyone close to me. I am confident that families have power. We are all together in this."

UNFPA's work creating strong support networks in Rohingya refugee camps is critical for reaching women and girls with lifesaving sexual and reproductive health care. Over half of all births in Bangladesh, including Kawser's, take place in a health facility. This makes childbirth dramatically safer for both mom and baby.

Today, Kawser and Mohammed are busy raising their newborn. They are using family planning and have decided to wait 3 years before having their next child. 

With your help, Kawser was able to survive pregnancy and begin raising her baby safely. . Your $100 gift to UNFPA supports one midwife in a community like Kawser's for an entire month.