In Cox’s Bazar, building trust in the future
Multi-purpose centres are providing children with a safe environment to make friends, grow – and dream.
When Rohingya families fled into Bangladesh in 2017, many of the children escaping violence in Myanmar carried with them the weight of unimaginable horrors.
Hundreds of thousands of children now sheltering in Cox’s Bazar – one of the world’s largest refugee camps – have received immediate, life-saving support in the form of food, medicines and vaccines. But they also need support for psychological wounds. Spaces to feel safe, heard and cared for. Somewhere to find release from the stress and trauma of their experiences.
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Somewhere to develop skills for the future.
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To meet friends.
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To just be children for a while.
“I enjoy it here and I like learning,” says 16-year-old Nur, as he threads the needle of a sewing machine. He’s learning tailoring at one of the more than 100 UNICEF-supported multipurpose centres across 33 refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar district, in southern Bangladesh.
“I came here to learn this work so I can earn a living for myself, so I don’t get involved in child labour,” Nur says.
As well as being safe spaces for young children to play and learn, the multipurpose centres also help adolescents develop practical skills they’ll need for the future, building confidence along the way. At the centres, young people can learn about everything from embroidery to electrical work to repairing solar panels.
The centres also offer a brief respite from the brutal heat and humidity of southern Bangladesh, where summer temperatures can soar well past 35°C.
“It’s a pleasant environment here. It’s cooler than my home and other places,” Nur says, smiling.
Saiful, 17, comes to the centre five days a week for a couple of hours each day. He says he’s hoping to help his family by earning some money once he has mastered embroidery. “I’ll be able to make decorative items for the home and things for shops to sell.” Saiful meticulously marks his measurements to create a pattern.
“My younger sister also comes here to learn tailoring, and some of my friends come here, too,” he adds. “I enjoy it here.”
Trusting the process
The enthusiasm for the centres that is now so evident among the children and adolescents attending them is the result of patient outreach and trust building.
“Before, most of the time children wouldn’t come out of their homes when I would visit them,” says Saima, a field assistant at this centre. “But now that we’ve built up trust, they’re eager to come here.”
Earning the trust of families still suffering the psychological scars of their past takes time. Saima goes door-to-door in the camps, speaking directly with parents, to explain the purpose and benefits of the centres. She wants to ensure they feel comfortable allowing their children to attend.
“I focus on how their children will be learning practical skills. Usually, that’s enough to reassure parents, but they also want to know that their children will be safe here.”
In addition to teaching vocational skills, the centres, which are in part supported by UNICEF’s Global Humanitarian Thematic Funding, offer life skills-based learning that equips adolescents with a range of soft-skills to help them deal with the rigours of adult life. They also benefit from the shared spaces to come together to discuss problems and solutions, and gain access to critical information on how to stay protected in the camps – not only from exploitation, like child labour and child marriage, but also from climate disasters, like cyclones.
And through their children, parents learn too.
“The children share messages they’ve been learning with other people in the community,” Saima says. “I like the fact that the children trust me and have a good relationship with me.”
Shatabdi Khastagir, a UNICEF Child Protection Officer, agrees that building trust with parents has been critical to improving attendance at the centres. “Families are now more aware and supportive of sending their children here to learn,” she says. “Even many adolescent girls, despite the cultural barriers they face, have been attending sessions.”
As physical structures, the centres are essential in helping to provide child protection case management services, psychosocial support, and parenting guidance. But the child protection element of the centres extends well beyond the buildings where children and adolescents gather – the centres also facilitate outreach to households to reach the most vulnerable children and those who may have already experienced abuse.
Community-Based Child Protection Committees play a critical role in this process, responding to child protection cases, and preventing them from happening in the first place by helping to identify child protection risks within the community and working together to find appropriate solutions that are in the best interests of the child. They are an additional and essential layer in the protective environment for refugee children, and in many cases are a vital entry point for a vulnerable child seeking help.
Ten-year-old Shahida lives at home with her parents and younger brother. She doesn’t have full use of her legs and is unable to stand or walk, which makes getting to the centre a challenge. But her family, along with centre staff members, ensure she gets the same opportunity her peers do.
“I’ve made some friends since I started here,” she says at the end of today’s session.
Children with disabilities are among the most marginalized during humanitarian emergencies. They are more likely to experience discrimination and violence; more likely to be abandoned or neglected; and more likely to face barriers accessing protection, aid and essential services. Barriers can be physical – for example, buildings, transportation, toilets and playgrounds inaccessible to wheelchair users – or informational – like public health announcements delivered without sign language.
In the camps in Cox’s Bazar the challenges for children with disabilities are compounded by the terrain. The soil is sandy and there are many steep slopes. Families’ shelters, constructed from bamboo and tarpaulin, are perched precariously on the edge of hills. During the torrential monsoon rains flooding and flash floods and landslides are common, making navigating the camps even more treacherous.
“I have problems getting around here because it’s such a hilly area,” Shahida says. “One time I was almost in an accident with a car, but my neighbours saved me.”
Another reason for the heightened vulnerability of children with disabilities can be a lack of information, including around the availability of resources. UNICEF trains teachers and communities to screen and refer children who may have a disability for further support.
Shahida has been coming to this centre for about a year now, and says she’s grateful to staff and the services they provide. But more than anything, it’s the chance to spend time with children just like her, in a safe environment, that keeps her coming back.
“I enjoy coming here because I can play and draw and learn new things.”
