BRAC James P Grant School of Public Health, BRAC University, 6th Floor Medona Tower, Mohakhali, Dhaka, 1212, Bangladesh.
Save the Children, Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh.
BMC Public Health. 2023 Oct 24;23(1):2084. doi: 10.1186/s12889-023-16964-2.
Following the mass influx of Rohingya refugees into Cox's Bazaar, Bangladesh in 2017, makeshift settlement camps in Ukhiya and Teknaf have been overburdened, leading to livelihood challenges for both Rohingya and host communities. The humanitarian crisis has had adverse effects on vulnerable populations, which include older people, persons with disabilities, adolescents, and single female household heads. Using a subset of a larger dataset on households with most vulnerable groups in both communities, we analysed the effect of the pandemic and lockdown on the livelihood of single female household (HH) heads.
A cross-sectional household roster survey was designed to collect data from households with most vulnerable groups (MVGs) of host and Rohingya communities from December 2020 to March 2021; 11 host community villages and 10 Rohingya camps purposively selected as per the affiliated intervention of the project. The paper analysed quantitative and qualitative data from the sub-group of single female household heads without any income/low income. Participants were surveyed for their socio-demographic characteristics, COVID-19 experiences and knowledge, food security situation, social experiences and mental health using PHQ-2 test for depression.
We surveyed 432 single female HH heads. Support during the pandemic was reported to be low, with less than 50% of HHs reporting relief meeting their needs; only 36% and 15% of these HHs received rations in camps and host communities respectively. Loan facilities were mostly unavailable and there were reported insufficiencies in food consumption. Over 50% of respondents tested positive on the PHQ-2, a scale used to screen for depression. Further analyses indicates that having a chronic health issue (OR 2.2, 95% CI 1.33-3.66) was positively associated with the PHQ-2 score for Rohingya single females. For host single females, having an ill member in the HH (OR 1.46, 95% CI 1.02-2.08) and the inability to save before the pandemic (OR 1.57 95% CI 1.11-2.23) increased the odds of screening positive for depression.
Our study findings revealed insufficiencies with economic opportunities and food security for single female-headed households, as well as a high rate of positive screening for depression amongst this population. These findings call for a more in-depth understanding of the needs of this group.
2017 年，罗兴亚难民大量涌入孟加拉国考克斯巴扎尔后，乌希娅和特克纳夫的临时定居营地不堪重负，导致罗兴亚人和收容社区都面临生计挑战。这场人道主义危机对弱势群体产生了不利影响，其中包括老年人、残疾人和青少年以及单身女性户主。本研究利用在两个社区的最弱势群体家庭的较大数据集的一个子集，分析了大流行和封锁对单身女性户主生计的影响。
本研究设计了一个横断面家庭名册调查，于 2020 年 12 月至 2021 年 3 月期间从收容社区和罗兴亚社区的最弱势群体（MVG）家庭收集数据；根据项目的附属干预措施，有目的地选择了 11 个社区村庄和 10 个罗兴亚营地。本文分析了没有任何收入/低收入的单身女性户主亚组的定量和定性数据。使用 PHQ-2 测试抑郁情况，对参与者的社会人口特征、COVID-19 经历和知识、粮食安全状况、社会经历和心理健康状况进行了调查。
本研究调查了 432 名单身女性户主。报告称，大流行期间的支持力度较低，不到 50%的家庭表示救济满足了他们的需求；只有 36%和 15%的家庭在营地和收容社区分别获得了配给。贷款设施大多不可用，食物消费也不足。超过 50%的受访者在 PHQ-2 上呈阳性，PHQ-2 是用于筛查抑郁的量表。进一步的分析表明，罗兴亚单身女性中患有慢性健康问题（OR 2.2，95%CI 1.33-3.66）与 PHQ-2 评分呈正相关。对于收容社区的单身女性，家庭中有患病成员（OR 1.46，95%CI 1.02-2.08）和大流行前无法储蓄（OR 1.57，95%CI 1.11-2.23）都会增加抑郁筛查阳性的几率。
本研究结果显示，单身女性户主的经济机会和粮食安全存在不足，而且该人群中抑郁筛查阳性率较高。这些发现呼吁更深入地了解这一群体的需求。
