The Role of Local NGOs in Promoting Peace and Conflict Resolution in Rohingya Refugee Camps in Bangladesh
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.65826/IJPCR.1.1.2026.9Keywords:
Rohingya refugees • Local NGOs • Peacebuilding • Conflict resolution • Humanitarian localization •Abstract
The Rohingya refugee crisis in Bangladesh represents one of the world’s largest humanitarian emergencies. While international agencies dominate large-scale relief, local NGOs play crucial but often overlooked roles in sustaining everyday peace within the camps of Cox’s Bazar. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork between 2022 and 2024, this paper explores how local NGOs promote conflict resolution through youth engagement, community mediation, psychosocial support, gender-sensitive programs, and rumour management. Findings indicate that these organizations function as trusted intermediaries and informal peacebuilders, yet face severe structural barriers including short-term funding, bureaucratic control, and political sensitivities that limit rights-based work. The paper situates these efforts within broader debates on humanitarian localization and concludes with recommendations to strengthen the role of local actors in sustainable peacebuilding.
References
Barbelet, V., Bryant, J., & Willitts-King, B. (2021). Local humanitarian action in the Rohingya response in Bangladesh. Humanitarian Policy Group Report. https://odi.org/documents/7850/C19__localisation_diary_methods_WEB.pdf
Chowdhury, I. A., & Rahman, M. (2021). Localization and humanitarian aid: The role of local NGOs in the Rohingya refugee response. South Asian Journal of Policy and Development, 7(1), 44–61. https://interagencystandingcommittee.org/grand-bargain-hosted-iasc
Chowdhury, S., & Sultana, F. (2021). Feminist peacebuilding and the Rohingya crisis: Everyday struggles, agency, and the politics of care. Gender, Place & Culture, 28(6), 761–779. https://studylib.net/doc/26982617/hun-development-report-2021-2022
Farmer, P. (2003). Pathologies of power: Health, human rights, and the new war on the poor. University of California Press. https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1525/j.ctt1pnznf
Galtung, J. (1990). Cultural violence. Journal of Peace Research, 27(3), 291–305. https://www.galtung-institut.de/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Cultural-Violence-Galtung.pdf
Good, B. (1993). Culture, diagnosis, and comorbidity: The case of depression and substance abuse. Culture, Medicine and Psychiatry, 17(1), 19–40. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/1305525/
Howe, K., Stites, E., & Chudacoff, D. (2020). Breaking the hourglass: Partnerships in remote management settings. Feinstein International Center. https://fic.tufts.edu/publication-item/organization-partnerships-remote-settings/
Human Rights Watch. (2021). Bangladesh: Repressive policies harm Rohingya refugees. Retrieved from https://www.hrw.org. https://rohingyaresponse.org/project/2021-jrp/
ICG (International Crisis Group). (2023). Beneath the surface: Armed groups and violence in Rohingya refugee camps. Crisis Group Report No. 319. https://www.crisisgroup.org/sites/default/files/2023-10/wl-rohingya-04x23.pdf
ISCG (Inter Sector Coordination Group). (2021). Joint Response Plan for Rohingya Humanitarian Crisis. Retrieved from https://www.humanitarianresponse.info
ISCG. (2023). Situation report: Protection and conflict dynamics in Cox’s Bazar camps. Inter Sector Coordination Group. https://rohingyaresponse.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/SCCCM-Daily-Incidents-Yearly-Report-2023.pdf
Kleinman, A. (1997). Writing at the margin: Discourse between anthropology and medicine. University of California Press. https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520209657/writing-at-the-margin
Knox Clarke, P. (2018). Transforming change: How aid organizations can learn to better adapt. ALNAP Study. https://alnap.hacdn.io/media/documents/alnap-transforming-change.pdf
Lederach, J. P. (1997). Building peace: Sustainable reconciliation in divided societies. United States Institute of Peace Press. https://pestuge.iliauni.edu.ge/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/John-P.-Lederach-Building-Peace.-Sustainable-Reconciliation-in-Divided-Society.pdf
Lewis, D. (2019). Humanitarianism, civil society, and the Rohingya refugee crisis in Bangladesh. https://eprints.lse.ac.uk/101302/1/Lewis_final_Rohinga_Paper_Aug_2019.pdf
Mac Ginty, R. (2014). Everyday peace: Bottom-up and local agency in conflict-affected societies. Security Dialogue, 45(6), 548–564. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0967010614550899
Manderson, L. (2020). Care, kin and community in pandemic response: COVID-19 and everyday ethics in Bangladesh. Medical Anthropology Quarterly, 34(4), 574–593. https://www.wiley.com/en-us/journals/Medical+Anthropology+Quarterly-p-15481387
OECD. (2012). Evaluating peacebuilding activities in settings of conflict and fragility: Improving learning for results. OECD Publishing. https://www.oecd.org/en/publications/2012/11/evaluating-peacebuilding-activities-in-settings-of-conflict-and-fragility_g1g206ff.html
Scheper-Hughes, N. (1992). Death without weeping: The violence of everyday life in Brazil. University of California Press. https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520075375/death-without-weeping
UNHCR. (2022). Rohingya Emergency: Bangladesh. Retrieved from https://www.unhcr.org. https://www.unhcr.org/us/where-we-work/countries/bangladesh
UNHCR. (2025). Operational update: Rohingya refugee response in Bangladesh. Retrieved from https://www.unhcr.org. https://data.unhcr.org/en/country/bgd
UNHRC. (2018). Report of the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar. United Nations Human Rights Council. https://docs.un.org/en/a/hrc/res/39/2
UN Women & ISCG. (2021). Gender-Based Violence in Rohingya camps: Protection brief. https://gate.unwomen.org/ManagementResponse/ViewManagementResponse?evaluationId=11627
Wake, C., & Bryant, J. (2018). Capacity and complementarity: Local actors and humanitarian response in the Rohingya crisis. ODI Humanitarian Policy Group. https://odi.org/documents/5899/12554.pdf
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Sheikh Mehzabin Chitra, Sheikh Mehbuba Moitree
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
