What happens when women contribute more to household decision-making in what is considered a traditional and patriarchal community? The impact of women's empowerment is witnessed in the refugee camps in Cox's Bazar District in the south of Bangladesh, facilitated by a new innovative food assistance system which puts power in the hands of the women.

Women are an essential part of any solution which aims to guide families and communities towards an improved standard of living. This is also true for the Rohingya refugee community in Bangladesh, for whom gainful employment and easy mobility outside the camps is illegal and where restrictive gender roles remain deep-rooted. Today, in celebrating International Women's Day, we call for a change in attitudes and practices that continue to obstruct women's advancement, and recognise acts of courage and determination by ordinary women who #MakeItHappen and are role models in their communities.

The story of 50-year-old Rabia Khatun (name changed for privacy reasons), a woman who has lived in Kutupalong refugee camp for the past 20 years, illustrates how the inclusion and empowerment of women can contribute to great change. Inside the camps where Rabia lives, and similarly in Rakhine State of Myanmar from where her family fled, an ultra-traditional culture prevails. Women are automatically relegated to positions of subordination and dependency. They have very little influence over decision-making processes in and outside the household, and rarely leave their living quarters, let alone the camps.

Such gender roles may be ingrained in the overarching social and cultural structures, yet, they are changeable. Impressive advances have been witnessed over the past 9 months, since the UN World Food Programme (WFP) introduced a new food assistance system together with the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) and the Government of Bangladesh, in August 2014.

The new food assistance system is based on an electronic voucher, called a FoodCard, which looks and works much like a debit card and on which a money value is placed once per month. What may appear to be a trivial, but crucial, development is that the woman is positioned as the principal FoodCard holder, and she, along with up to two nominated alternates, retains secure access to the value on the card through biometric encoding. This stands in sharp contrast to the previous system that existed for the past two decades, where food assistance involved a basic fixed food basket on which the refugees had little voice.

The new food assistance modality has significantly invigorated the role of women in the camps and revitalised their voice. Once limited to their homes, Rabia and many other women now frequent the shops to take part in a novel reality -- that of choosing and buying groceries for their families. The women now have the decision-making power to choose from 18 different nutritious food items.

"Previously, we just got a fixed amount of five different foods that we received all at once. Now I have more decisions to make and more responsibility, I can go and shop like the men do outside the camps," she says.

When the family needs food, like rice, oil or spinach, Rabia calculates her family's FoodCard balance and allocates the money to ensure enough remains on her FoodCard to buy food for the rest of the month. She determines the foods needed and either she, or her husband, takes it back from the shops to her home.

Women are the primary care givers, and being responsible for preparation and distribution of food they play a decisive role in ensuring food security and dietary diversity for their family members. When we actively give women authority and motivate them to exercise greater choice in decisions which affect their lives, we are supporting entire families and communities.

In the context of crippling poverty and there being too many mouths to feed, enabling a refugee woman to shop may seem like a small change with a negligible impact. However, this small change is disrupting suppressive structures and is creating a ripple effect, as confirmed by both UNHCR and WFP. Women are now much more present in the open areas of the camps, and their simple presence is serving to make a safer space for them. Side by side with the men, now women, too, make significant decisions for their families.

Despite improvements in the refugee camps there is no question that serious gender inequality prevails. The social structures and behaviours that shape and suppress the lives of women and girls need to adapt and modernise so they are included as valued and equal members of society. Further, in order to affect real change to have equality when and where it matters, women must perceive themselves as equal. As members of a global community, we must voice the benefits of gender equality loudly. By strengthening women's household decision-making and community participation, and by challenging social frameworks that marginalise women, women will grow confidence and grow a voice. With that voice they gain an opportunity to overcome the hurdles that still prevent them from being equal and respected contributing members of society.

The example of Rabia's growing empowerment and that of other refugee women like her is important to celebrate on this special day. The recognition by both men and women of the contribution that women can make represents an achievement for all women everywhere.

The authors of this joint piece are Country Representativeofthe UN World Food Programme and Senior Protection Officer and Officer in Charge of the UN Refugee Agency, respectively.