Rohingya project: Read the amazing Impact report for Year 1

Training and support for hundreds of refugee families & frontline workers

Pioneering public radio outreach to 350,000+ refugees

August 2026

Beyond Conflict and its partner Global Development Consortium (GDC) are delighted to announce the successful completion of the first year of our 3 -year project to support refugees and frontline workers in the Cox’s Bazar Rohingya refugee camp in Bangladesh.

The Rohingya refugees number around 1.5 million people, 50 percent of whom are children, who escaped genocide in Myanmar in 2017/18. This remains one of the world’s largest refugee crises, with no end in sight. It is termed the “forgotten crisis” because so little attention is paid to the Rohingyas.

The plight of the Rohingyas is one of the most harrowing in the world, having lost their homes, community and country when they fled Myanmar in 2017/18 to escape a genocide there. Eight years on there is no prospect of returning home – this is a community deeply traumatised, with too few resources to help them.

This is why Beyond Conflict has supported a 3-year rolling project with GDC to help deliver mental health support to children and adolescents in the camp, as well as training to the dedicated local frontline workers who serve them. By widening support and knowledge about mental health issues and how to address them, we hope we can boost MH capacity on the ground and advocate for greater resources to be allocated to this marginalised refugee community.

Our project starts small, but this year GDC has significantly widened its impact by linking with a radio station transmitting in the camp to deliver powerful public information broadcasts on MH that have reached a staggering 350,000 refugees.

Combined with a telephone hotline run by GDC and its national network of psychiatrists and MH experts, as well as training of frontline workers whilst working directly with young refugees in the camp, we hope this project is beginning to develop solutions to address the unmet mental health crisis that exists in this community.

HERE ARE A FEW EDITED HIGHLIGHTS

• Established 22 peer support groups (male and female) across all 11 camps, directly engaging 264 community members in structured psychosocial support activities.

• Delivered 44 participatory peer education sessions covering stress management, active listening, empathy, confidentiality, and mental health referral pathways.

• Trained 31 frontline NGO staff from 13 organizations on MHPSS identification, referral, case management, and staff wellbeing.

• Reached an estimated 350,000+ beneficiaries through Radio Naf 99.2 FM via PSAs, live talk shows, radio drama, and weekly interactive programmes.

• Engaged 80 children and adolescents in creative and recreational sessions to promote emotional expression, resilience, and peer connection.

• Produced an 8-page flipchart-based training manual and standardized peer group facilitation framework for consistent field implementation.

• Activated the “Manoshik Kosto” tele-mental health hotline; 15 individuals accessed remote consultations addressing anxiety, depression, PTSD, and mood disorders.

KEY CHALLENGES

• Acute shortage of trained mental health professionals’ limits service quality and coverage across the camps.

• Declining humanitarian funding threatens the sustainability and scale of MHPSS interventions.

• Persistent stigma and cultural barriers continue to discourage help-seeking behavior within the refugee community.

• Limited access to psychiatric medication and weak referral pathways reduce effectiveness for high-need cases.

• High burnout among frontline workers undermines consistent service delivery and staff wellbeing.

 WORK ON YEAR 2 BEGINS

With the high prevalence of trauma, depression and PTSD remaining, there is a continued need for this support to continue. Therefore, BC is continuing funding to GDC into year 2 to build on the work carried out so far. 

GDC Director Golam Abbas, a former senior UNHCR official who ran humanitarian operations across Asia, Africa and the Middle East for more than three decades, said: 

“The people in this camp are facing a high prevalence of trauma, depression, and PTSD. Peer groups require ongoing mentoring and supervision in a population with no pathway home. Demand for assistance without continued funding means community structures risk collapse. This is why continuing this work and widening understanding on these issues is essential.”

He added that this project showed a way forward because:

“The programme has proven to be a scalable, community-driven model that helps both frontline workers and the refugees themselves. Our next phase will be about expanding peer support networks, dedicated child and adolescent psychosocial safe spaces. We also want to strengthen referral pathways and improve access to psychiatric medications through health sector coordination.”

Radio outreach will continue to help raise awareness and reduce stigma about mental health. This will be backed by improved telephone support helplines.

WIDE IMPACT REACHING 350,000 + REFUGEES

Edna Fernandes, BC Co-Founder and Executive Director said:

“This project shows that that even with modest resources, a wide and meaningful impact can be achieved. This project has directly helped hundreds of families inside the camp, including vulnerable children and adolescents. It has helped advocate on mental health and provided a message of support via local radio to more than 350,000 people. This breaks down ignorance and stigma attached to mental health issues within the refugee community and provides a free telephone helpline for those who need it. We are delighted with GDC’s progress and urge greater support and resources to be allocated by the international community to the Rohingya refugees.

We live in a time of war, displacement and humanitarian crisis where the spotlight constantly moves on. No refugee community should be forgotten. Every life matters.  If you can support this project, please do so as the Rohingyas desperately need more help.”

YOU CAN READ A SUMMARY OF THE IMPACT REPORT HERE:

YOU CAN DONATE HERE.