Project profile — Lifting Healthy, Empowered and Protected Girls and Women in Cox’s Bazar (LEAP)

• Bangladesh (100.00%)

• Basic Education: Basic life skills for youth (11231) (24.51%)
• Basic Health: Health education (12261) (14.73%)
• Population policy and administrative management:
Population policy and administrative management (13010) (10.00%)
Reproductive health care (13020) (24.01%)
• Women's rights organisations and movements, and government institutions:
Women's rights organisations and movements, and government institutions (15170) (13.25%)
Ending violence against women and girls (15180) (13.50%)

• Gender equality (principal objective)
• Environmental sustainability (cross-cutting) (significant objective)
• Children's issues (significant objective)
• Youth Issues (significant objective)
• Nutrition (significant objective)

This project aims to advance the realization of sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) of adolescent girls and young women in Cox's Bazar host communities and refugee camps. Project activities include: (1) organizing young married women’s groups and training them on gender equality and inclusion, SRHR, mental health support, protection and decision-making; (2) training members of men’s clubs on gender equality and inclusion, SRHR, sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) and mental health; (3) training facility and community-based service providers on gender- and adolescent-responsive and inclusive service delivery and referral on sexual and reproductive health (SRH), SGBV and mental health; (4) refurbishing and equipping government and partner health care facilities and supplying them with job aids and logistics to provide gender- and adolescent-responsive and inclusive SRH, SGBV and mental health support services; and (5) identifying, local women’s rights organizations and linking them with local young women’s groups and adolescent girls’ groups for collective local action on gender equality, SGBV, SRHR, mental health and harmful traditional practices. LEAP targets marginalized groups in Rohingya camps and host communities facing multifaceted dimensions of exclusion. LEAP aims to directly reach more than 79,000 people, including 49,873 women and girls, in four unions (the lowest administrative unit) in Ukhiya and Teknaf subdistricts, seven unions in Ramu subdistrict, eight unions in Cox’s Bazar Sadar subdistrict and two Rohingya refugee camps (for 7,000 of these women and girls).

The expected outcomes for this project include: (1) improved individual and collective agency and resilience of adolescent girls and young women to exercise their sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR); (2) strengthened health systems to provide gender- and adolescent-responsive and inclusive SRH, SGBV and mental health and psychosocial support services to adolescents and young people, particularly girls and young women in Cox’s Bazaar; and (3) enhanced capacity of local stakeholders to advocate for evidence-based and accountable gender- and adolescent- responsive and inclusive SRH and SGBV services and policies.

Results achieved at the end of the project (March 2025) include: (1) trained 438 community, traditional, and religious leaders, using a culturally sensitive approach to promote gender equality, sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR), mental health, and prevent sexual and gender-based violence. The trainees became active advocates for positive social change in their communities; (2) provided 5,062,010 beneficiaries (4,166,433 women and 895,577 men) with SRHR services, including modern contraception methods; (3) reached 118,089 adolescents (66,595 girls and young women and 51,494 boys and young men) through the Champions of Change model, an approach seeking to empower adolescents, focusing on building their knowledge, leadership, and advocacy skills in various areas. This includes life skills, SRHR, gender equality and inclusion, and preventing sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV); (4) provided 50 adolescent girls with access to Girls Out Loud, an online safe space designed to enable free expression and knowledge exchange on SGBV. They also received train-the-trainer sessions on cybersecurity, SRHR, gender equality, and preventing gender-based violence, producing 405 social media posts on key topics such as child marriage, and gender-responsive health services; (5) trained 452 community-based service providers (279 women and 173 men) on gender and adolescent responsive service delivery, referrals on SRHR and SGBV, and mental health and psychosocial support services; and (6) refurbished 27 health facilities, including repairs to water, sanitation, and hygiene facilities.

• Proactive disclosure