Research

Voices of displaced Rohingya children in Bangladesh

Sweta Shah, Hamidah Ashrafi Fateha, Nazia Nusrat, Md. Ibrahim Badhan, and Emerald Upoma Baidya

November 25, 2025

Since 2017, Bangladesh has hosted one of the world’s most enduring displacement crises, with over a million Rohingya taking shelter in 33 densely packed camps across Cox’s Bazar, having fled persecution in Myanmar.
In order to center children affected by this crisis and incorporate their voices, this case study uses the “Drawing as Dialogue” method to elucidate how children perceive their physical world, navigate their social relationships, and process their inner emotional lives.
The findings from this simple, low-cost method provide a direct pathway for refining child-centered programs across the humanitarian sector.

Photo courtesy of BRAC IED.

3 min read

This first case study in the “Unveiling worlds: Centering child voices in humanitarian contexts case study series” uses drawing and child-led conversations to illuminate young Rohingya children’s lived realities to inform humanitarian programs and policies.¹ This qualitative study offers context-specific insights from children to inform policies and practices for governmental bodies, U.N. agencies and implementing NGOs. This approach is replicable, low-cost, and adaptable to any protracted emergency context. Children’s views, as highlighted in this research, are already changing how BRAC, a Global South-led international development agency, implements its programs. Additionally, to have a broader impact, BRAC² has initiated discussions for program and policy modification based on this research with the Early Childhood Development (ECD) in emergencies coordination group³ and the Refugee Relief and Repatriation Commissioner within the Bangladesh Ministry of Disaster Management and Relief.

Download the full case study.

Authors

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Footnotes
1. The research presented here is drawn from larger research called “My Play Life: A Qualitative Study of Children’s Play in Bangladesh,” an initiative by the BRAC Institute of Educational Development (BRAC IED) and the University of Cambridge and funded by the Lego Foundation. This research is not published.
2. BRAC Institute for Educational Development (IED) is the research and technical arm of BRAC and has been leading these discussions with various stakeholders.
3. The ECD in emergencies coordination group in the Rohingya camp includes BRAC and its affiliates such as BRAC-IED, Plan International, International Rescue Committee, Save the Children, and many local Bangladeshi groups.

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Voices of displaced Rohingya children in Bangladesh

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Voices of displaced Rohingya children in Bangladesh