Deputy UNHCR official recounts field rescue in Cox's Bazar and prioritizes protection for women

In a recorded conversation at UNHCR headquarters in Geneva, Kelly Clements, Deputy High Commissioner for Refugees, recounted experiences in Bangladesh and elsewhere that shaped her focus on protection for women and survivors of sexual violence.

Clements described arriving in Cox's Bazar during an early Rohingya influx and taking on protection responsibilities. She told the interviewer Melissa Fleming that she visited a camp family — she remembered the mother’s name as “Fatima” — who had lost her food-ration card and was receiving no help from government officials. Clements said she intervened, which led to the family’s ration card being reinstated. She described the moment as life-changing: “every little act, as small as it can be, makes a difference,” she said.

The deputy high commissioner also criticized a practice she encountered during a high-level delegation visit, when organizers had singled out women who had been raped and displayed them with a sign identifying them as "rape victims." Clements said she intervened before the visit, urged partners and government actors to change the approach, and used the incident as a learning moment to prevent stigmatizing survivors.

Clements framed these field experiences within broader protection concerns: she described reports of sexual violence, forced labor and restrictions on education faced by Rohingya and noted that statelessness compounds vulnerability. She also said safeguarding within UNHCR has been an institutional priority since the #MeToo era, including measures to improve reporting and to respond to sexual exploitation and abuse by personnel or partners.

On returning to Bangladesh, Clements said the visits are emotional and mix advocacy with the practical aim of enabling refugees to support themselves and, where possible, return and rebuild. She closed by saying the work of protecting displaced women remains urgent and central to UNHCR’s mission.