Bangladesh Nari Progati Sangha (BNPS) jointly organized a series of events with the Global Network of Women Peacebuilders (GNWP) during October 2021 to June 2022 under a short term partnership titled “Empowering Rohingya Refugees, Burmese, and Bangladeshi Women to Contribute to Sustainable Peace”. It was on the National Action Plan (NAP) on Women Peace and Security based on United Nations Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 1325, with a particular focus on the Rohingya Refugee Crisis in Cox’s Bazar. The objectives of the partnership were to organize several dialogue sessions, workshops and social media campaigns to amplify the messages on WPS among the stakeholders to accelerate the process and implementation of NAP WPS in Bangladesh.
Under this partnership, BNPS accomplished 03 virtual consultations with national and local women-led civil society organizations, UN Women and other humanitarian actors and national government agencies on 21 October, 28 October and 23 November 2021 respectively. In total, 37 selective representatives joined these events where several challenges and gaps of the implementation of NAP WPS were identified.
BNPS organized a two-day long local level workshop on ‘National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security Bangladesh as per UN Security Council Resolution 1325’ on 12th and 13th December 2021 at Hotel Jol Tarongo, Army Welfare Trust Rest House, Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh. The workshop was attended by more than 32 representatives and staff of different CSOs, NGOs and INGOs from Cox’s Bazar where Head of GNWP Mavic Cabrera Balleza and other representatives attended.
Besides, BNPS organized two batches of daylong workshops for better understanding on NAP WPS agenda. First workshop was held at BNPS Conference Room on January 13, 2022 under the title of ‘National Workshop on National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security Bangladesh as per UN Security Council Resolution 1325’ where 23 representatives including Govt. officials, Women Led CSOs leaders and ADAB officials attended. Second workshop titled ‘Ensuring Effective Implementation of National Action Plan on Women Peace and Security of Bangladesh in the Context of the Rohingya Crisis’ took place at the Spectra Convention Centre, Gulshan, Dhaka on June 21, 2022. A total of 45 participants from National and local authorities, civil society, representatives of the UN and the diplomatic community, stakeholders and experts, both local and international residents, actively participated in this day-long event, sharing their views, concerns, and experiences surrounding the key points.
Among them Ms. Lilly Nicholls, High Commissioner of Canada; Dr. Kiran Rupakhetee, Joint Secretary, National Planning Commission of Nepal; Mr. Md. Shamsud Douza, Deputy Secretary and Additional Refugee Relief and Repatriation Commissioner, Coxs Bazar; Ms. Mavic Cabrera Balleza, CEO and Founder of GNWP; Ms. Diya Nanda, Deputy Country Representative of UN Women Bangladesh; Ms. Rokeya Kabir, Executive Director of BNPS; Mr. Mohammad Golam Sarwar, National Consultant on WPS; Ms. Mallika Iyer, Director of GNWP; Ms. Shahnaz Sumi, Deputy Director of BNPS played very active role in the event. In addition, women led CSO leaders from Cox’s Bazar and Dhaka shared their valuable experiences in the event to work on this issue.
Under this initiative, BNPS also operated a social media campaign on the Facebook page named নারী, শান্তি ও নিরাপত্তা (Women, Peace and Security) where posters and videos on the events uploaded and boosted for reaching out vast audiences.
