Dear Friends,

In June 2023, I will be joining 11 other women on a triple-challenge expedition (hiking, mountain biking and stand-up paddle boarding) in Switzerland. The objective of this expedition is to raise awareness and funds for one of the most under-funded humanitarian crises in the world: the Rohingya refugee emergency.

I am raising funds for UNHCR Environmental programme in Bangladesh (which includes reforestation, human-elephant contact management and youth-led climate action training activities) to support the Rohingya refugee crisis. All funds raised will go directly to UNHCR.

I have included more details about the Rohingya Refugee Crisis and types of programs that will be assisted by the donations at the bottom of this page.

Please help me help them by giving whatever you can using the donation form. The more people that know about the crisis, what is being done, and where the gaps are, the more people can do to address the gaps / needs, so please also spread the word by sharing my page with your friends and family.

Thank you in advance for your generosity, it means a lot!

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Background on the Rohingya Refugee Crisis (Source: UNHCR website):

- The Rohingya are a stateless Muslim minority in Myanmar

- Over a million Rohingya refugees have fled violence in Myanmar since the early 1990s with the latest exodus being in August 2017, when violence broke out in Myanmar's Rakhine State

- Currently there are close a million Rohingya refugees across camps in Bangladesh relying almost entirely on humanitarian assistance for their survival

- 2023 Joint Response Plan for the Rohingya Humanitarian Crisis (the "Plan") has been prepared and calls for funding and support to deliver much needed life-saving and life-sustaining assistance to the camp population and also investing in education, skills training and livelihood opportunities for the refugees

- The Plan aims to: (1) work towards the sustainable and voluntary repatriation of Rohingya refugees to Myanmar; (2) strengthen the protection of Rohingya refugees; (3) deliver life-saving assistance to populations in need; (4) foster the well-being of host communities in Bangladesh who have been adversely impacted; and (5) strengthen disaster risk management and combat the effects of climate change

- Funding and support is needed to put this plan in action to deliver life-saving and life-sustaining assistance to the camp population while also investing in education, skills training and livelihood opportunities for the refugees

Details of UNHCR Environmental programme in Bangladesh:

Activities under the programme include:

- Human-Elephant Contact (HEC) management in the camp area to address the issue of elephant migration routes / corridors being through the sites where some refugee camps are located

- Provision of LPG (less carbon intensive fuel) for refugee households in order to reduce dependence on firewood for cooking

- Reforestation / Afforestation activities to help with land stabilization, erosion control and soil health improvement

- Watershed management activities

- Environmental education activities and implementation of Nature Based Solutions

- Electronic Waste Management and Recycling

- Youth Environment Groups