The inauguration of the Certificate Course on the Rohingya Crisis was held on June 19, 2021 at North South University (NSU). The course has been jointly organized by the Center for Peace Studies (CPS) of the South Asian Institute of Policy and Governance (SIPG) at NSU and the Human Rights Practice Program at the University of Arizona. Although it is a 12-week virtual course, a physical field trip to the Rohingya camps in Cox’s Bazar is included in the curriculum.
In the inauguration, the Vice-Chancellor of North South University Professor Atiqul Islam, Ambassador Espen Rikter-Svendsen of Royal Norwegian Embassy to Dhaka, Professor John Paul Jones III, Dean, College of Social and Behavioral Sciences of the University of Arizona, and Professor Sk. Tawfique Haque, Director, SIPG and CPS of NSU. Ambassador Sufiur Rahman from Australia and former Ambassador Shahidul Haque, Professorial Fellow of SIPG, NSU joined the event.
Vice-Chancellor of NSU Professor Atiqul Islam mentioned the various challenges like language barrier in education, cultural and psychological factors, should be considered while planning any short or long-term plans for the displaced community. He believes the course is important for people who are engaged, concerned, and related to the issues and hopes that, in the future, if necessary, this course can be upgraded to a diploma degree or even a master’s degree.
Professor Sk. Tawfique Haque in his introductory speech said that through this new certificate course, this course aims to discuss the dynamics of the national, bilateral, regional, and global politics and policies including economic and security issues related to the Rohingya crisis.
“Norway will always stand beside Bangladesh on the resolution of the Rohingya crisis”, stated Norwegian Ambassador in Dhaka Mr. Espen Rikter-Svendsen in his inaugural address. He also expressed how the challenges are being more complex for the host nation and the humanitarian actors to help the Rohingya people. He encourages the participants of this course to explore new ideas that that can help to solve this complex issue.
Professor John Paul Jones III, Dean, College of Social and Behavioral Sciences, University of Arizona, mentioned that it is an honor to do a partnership with NSU and he hopes together through the multifaceted topics of this course, both the participants and the resource persons can learn more about this crisis and find resolutions. He commends the people of Bangladesh for all the humanitarian assistance to the displaced people.
CPS Coordinator Dr. Ishrat Zakia Sultana is the course coordinator. 38 participants with diverse backgrounds joined from 8 countries including Bangladesh. Among the 22 resource persons, Ambassador Bob Rae, Permanent Representative of Canada to the United Nations, and Canada’s Special Envoy to Myanmar in 2017 is one. The resource persons include ambassadors, academicians, trainers, and experts from various fields around the world.