UN
LDC Graduation: Bangladesh, Lao PDR, Nepal join UN-led exchange on smooth transition
Government officials and representatives from the private sector, academia, research institutes, and civil society from Bangladesh, Lao PDR, and Nepal, alongside the UN, have gathered in Bangkok, Thailand to attend a South-South Exchange on Preparing Smooth Transition Strategy (STS) for graduation from the Least Developed Country (LDC) category.
The three-day event (August 23-25, 2022) is organised by the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA), the United Nations Office of the High Representative for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States (UNOHRLLS), United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) together with the Offices of the UN Resident Coordinators (UNRCO) of Bangladesh, Lao PDR, and Nepal.
The event is funded by UNDESA through its Sustainable Graduation Support Facility - iGRAD. This initiative is part of the on-going support by the UN Development System for Bangladesh, Lao PDR, and Nepal as the only three countries recommended by the UN Committee for Development Policy (CDP) for graduation during the ongoing global pandemic in February 2021.
Read: UK to continue duty-free market access to Bangladesh after LDC graduation
The Bangladesh delegation, led by Sharifa Khan, Secretary, Economic Relations Division, Ministry of Finance, comprises LDC focal points from the Ministries of Commerce, Industries, Finance, Environment, along with PMO, BIDA, and NBR. Representatives from civil society and local think-tanks are also participating.
The delegation is accompanied by the representatives from the Office of the UN Resident Coordinator, led by Gwyn Lewis, the UN Resident Coordinator in Bangladesh.
Rabab Fatima, Under Secretary General and High Representative for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States, lauded this collaboration between three graduating LDCs facilitated by UN agencies.
She said, “The compounded impact of multiple crises – such as COVID-19, growing food and commodity prices and the climate emergency – put development progress in the Least Developed Countries at risk. We are coming together to provide a better coordinated United Nations support. Our aim is to lessen the burden on each government’s capacity and catalyse sustainable progress”.
The head of Bangladesh delegation Sharifa Khan said: “The Government has taken a three-pronged approach to make graduation smooth and sustainable - ensuring the best utilization of the international support mechanisms(ISM) during the remaining preparatory period, adopting necessary policies, strategies, and measures to enhance productivity and remain competitive in the post-LDC regime, and advocating alongside other LDCs for extending the ISMs temporarily beyond graduation. ”
Gwyn Lewis, UN Resident Coordinator in Bangladesh emphasized the importance of LDC graduation as an opportunity for more inclusive policy regimes. She said, “STS is an opportunity for long-term thinking on issues of improved compliance with international standards in terms of labour rights, good governance, environment, and human rights.”
UN: US buying big Ukraine grain shipment for hungry regions
The United States is stepping up to buy about 150,000 metric tons of grain from Ukraine in the next few weeks for an upcoming shipment of food aid from ports no longer blockaded by war, the World Food Program chief has told The Associated Press.
The final destinations for the grain are not confirmed and discussions continue, David Beasley said. But the planned shipment, one of several the U.N. agency that fights hunger is pursuing, is more than six times the amount of grain that the first WFP-arranged ship from Ukraine is now carrying toward people in the Horn of Africa at risk of starvation.
Beasley spoke Friday from northern Kenya, which is deep in a drought that is withering the Horn of Africa region. He sat under a thorn tree among local women who told the AP that the last time it rained was in 2019.
Their bone-dry communities face yet another failed rainy season within weeks that could tip parts of the region, especially neighboring Somalia, into famine. Already, thousands of people have died. The World Food Program says 22 million people are hungry.
“I think there’s a high probability we’ll have a declaration of famine” in the coming weeks, Beasley said.
He called the situation facing the Horn of Africa a “perfect storm on top of a perfect storm, a tsunami on top of a tsunami” as the drought-prone region struggles to cope amid high food and fuel prices driven partly by the war in Ukraine.
The keenly awaited first aid ship from Ukraine is carrying 23,000 metric tons of grain, enough to feed 1.5 million people on full rations for a month, Beasley said. It is expected to dock in Djibouti on Aug. 26 or 27, and the wheat is supposed to be shipped overland to northern Ethiopia, where millions of people in the Tigray, Afar and Amhara regions have faced not only drought but deadly conflict.
Ukraine was the source of half the grain that WFP bought last year to feed 130 million hungry people. Russia and Ukraine signed agreements with the U.N. and the Turkish government last month to enable exports of Ukrainian grain for the first time since Russia’s invasion in February.
But the slow reopening of Ukraine's ports and the cautious movement of cargo ships across the mined Black Sea won't solve the global food security crisis, Beasley said. He warned that richer countries must do much more to keep grain and other assistance flowing to the hungriest parts of the world, and he named names.
Read: Ukraine grain shipments offer hope, not fix to food crisis
“With oil profits being so high right now — record-breaking profits, billions of dollars every week — ... the Gulf states need to help, need to step up and do it now,” Beasley said. “It’s inexcusable not to. Particularly since these are their neighbors, these are their brothers, their family.”
He asserted the World Food Program could save “millions of lives” with just one day of Gulf countries’ oil profits.
China needs to help as well, Beasley said.
“China’s the second-largest economy in the world, and we get diddly-squat from China,” or very little, he added.
Despite grain leaving Ukraine and hopes rising of global markets beginning to stabilize, the world’s most vulnerable people face a long, difficult recovery, the WFP chief said.
“Even if this drought ends, we’re talking about a global food crisis at least for another 12 months,” Beasley said. “But in terms of the poorest of the poor, it’s gonna take several years to come out of this."
Some of the world's poorest people without enough food are in northern Kenya, where animal carcasses are slowly stripped to the bone beneath an ungenerous sky. Millions of livestock, the source of families’ wealth and nutrition, have died in the drought. Many water pumps have gone dry. More and more thousands of children are malnourished.
“Don’t forget us,” resident Hasan Mohamud told Beasley. “Even the camels have disappeared. Even the donkeys have succumbed.”
With so many in need, aid that does arrive can disappear like a raindrop in the sand. Local women who qualified for WFP cash handouts described taking the 6,500 shillings (about $54) and sharing it among their neighbors — in one case, 10 households.
“The most interesting thing we hear is people saying, ‘We’re not the only ones,’” WFP program officer Felix Okech told the AP. “'We’re the ones who have been selected (for handouts), but there are many more like us.' So that is very humbling to hear.”
In a small crowd that had gathered to listen to stories of children too weak to stand and milk gone dry, one woman at the edge of the woven plastic mat spoke up. Sahara Abdilleh, 50, said she makes perhaps 1,000 shillings ($8.30) a week from gathering firewood, scouring a landscape that gives less and less back every day. Like Beasley, she was thinking globally.
“Is there any country, like Afghanistan or Ukraine, that is worse off than us?” she asked.
Ukraine’s Zelenskyy hosts talks with UN chief, Turkey leader
Turkey’s president and the U.N. chief met with Ukrainian President Volodymr Zelenskyy on Thursday in a high-stakes bid to ratchet down a war raging for nearly six months, boost desperately needed grain exports and secure the safety of Europe’s biggest nuclear power plant.
The gathering, held far from the front lines in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv, near the Polish border, marked the first visit to Ukraine by Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdogan since the outbreak of the war, and the second by U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres.
Erdogan has positioned himself as a go-between in efforts to stop the fighting. While Turkey is a member of NATO — which backs Ukraine in the war — its wobbly economy is reliant on Russia for trade, and the country has tried to steer a middle course.
At the meetings, Turkey agreed to help rebuild Ukraine’s infrastructure, including roads and bridges, and Zelenskyy asked Guterres to seek U.N. access to Ukrainian citizens deported to Russia, according to the Ukrainian president’s Website. Zelenskyy also requested U.N. help in freeing captured Ukrainian soldiers and medics.
On the battlefield, meanwhile, at least 11 people were killed and 40 wounded in heavy Russian missile strikes on Ukraine’s Kharkiv region on Wednesday night and Thursday morning, Ukrainian authorities said.
Russia’s military claimed that it struck a base for foreign mercenaries in Kharkiv, killing 90. There was no immediate comment from the Ukrainian side.
Heightening international tensions, Russia deployed warplanes carrying state-of-the-art hypersonic missiles to the country’s Kaliningrad region, an enclave surrounded by two NATO nations.
The three leaders’ agenda included the Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant in southern Ukraine. Moscow and Kyiv have accused each other of shelling the complex, and the fighting has raised fears of a nuclear catastrophe.
Read:Ukrainians flee grim life in Russian-occupied Kherson
In his nightly video address Wednesday, Zelensky reaffirmed his demand for the Russian military to leave the plant, emphasizing that “only absolute transparency and control of the situation” by, among others, the U.N.’s International Atomic Energy Agency, could guarantee nuclear safety.
Zelenskyy and Guterres agreed Thursday on arrangements for an IAEA mission to the plant, the Ukrainian president’s website reported. It wasn’t immediately clear if Russia would agree to those terms. Zelenskyy asked Guterres to ensure the safety of the plant, including its demilitarization.
Concerns about the plant mounted Thursday when Russian and Ukrainian authorities accused each other of plotting to attack the site and then blame the other side.
Earlier this month, Erdogan met in Russia with Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss the fighting. And last month, Turkey and the U.N. helped broker agreements clearing the way for Ukraine to export 22 million tons of corn and other grain stuck in its Black Sea ports since Russia invaded Feb. 24. The agreements also sought to clear roadblocks to exports of Russian food and fertilizer to world markets.
The war has significantly worsened the global food crisis because Ukraine and Russia are major suppliers of grain. Developing countries have been hit particularly hard by shortages and high prices, and the U.N. has declared several African nations in danger of famine.
Yet even with the deal, only a trickle of Ukrainian grain exports has made it out. Turkey’s Defense Ministry said more than 622,000 tons of grain have been shipped from Ukrainian ports since the deal was reached.
At a news conference Thursday in Lviv, Guterres touted the success of the grain export agreements but added, “There is a long way to go before this will be translated into the daily life of people at their local bakery and in their markets.”
The discussions about an overall end to the war that has killed untold thousands and forced over 10 million Ukrainians to flee their homes were not expected to yield anything substantive.
In March, Turkey hosted talks in Istanbul between Russian and Ukrainian negotiators, but the effort to end the hostilities failed, with the two sides blaming each other.
Erdogan has engaged in a delicate balancing act, maintaining good relations with both Russia and Ukraine. Turkey has provided Ukraine with drones, which played a significant role in deterring a Russian advance early in the conflict, but it has refrained from joining Western sanctions against Russia over the war.
Turkey is facing a major economic crisis, with official inflation near 80%, and is increasingly dependent on Russia for trade and tourism. Russian gas covers 45% of Turkish energy needs, and Russia’s atomic agency is building Turkey’s first nuclear power plant.
Sinan Ulgen of the Istanbul-based EDAM think tank characterized Turkey’s diplomatic policy as being “pro-Ukraine without being anti-Russia.”
“Turkey believed that it did not have the luxury to totally alienate Russia,” Ulgen said.
Human Rights Violation: BNP wants impendent probe under UN supervision
In tune with UN Human Rights Commissioner Michelle Bachelet, BNP on Thursday demanded an independent investigation into the incidents of human rights violations, including enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings, under the supervision of the UN.
“More than 600 political leaders and activists, civil society members and labour leaders have been subjected to enforced disappearance. Most of them were not found…enforced disappearance is a crime against humanity. Making a person disappear by the state is a grievous offence. It can’t be accepted. So, this type of crime should be investigated,” said BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir.
Talking to reporters at BNP chairperson’s Gulshan office, he said the UN Human Rights Commissioner rightly said a fair, neutral and independent inquiry must be carried out into the incidents and those involved in such crimes will have to be brought to justice.
Also read: BNP meets UN Human Rights Commission's Asia-Pacific chief
The BNP leader said Bachelet also talked about the Rapid Action Battalion’s involvement with such incidents.
“We want an independent investigation under the supervision of the UN into the incidents to reveal the truth and take action against all those to be found involved (with the human rights violations),” he said.
Fakhrul said the UN rights chief's statements on enforced disappearances, extrajudicial killings and the human rights situations in Bangladesh have proved the truth of what the BNP has long been saying about the matters.
“We’ve long been saying that the enforced disappearances, killings and extrajudicial killings have been taking place with state patron. It’s a big problem,” he said.
Stating that people in Bangladesh were not known to the world of enforced disappearance, Fakhrul said it was Awami League which introduced enforced disappearance in the country after returning to power in 2008.
Referring to Awami League general secretary Obaidul Quader’s remark that the United Nations has no jurisdiction to investigate any incidents of extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances in Bangladesh, Fakhrul said the ruling party leader ostensibly admitted that these incidents happened here through his comment.
Earlier at a press conference on Wednesday, UN Human Rights Commissioner Michelle Bachelet voiced deep concerns over the allegations of enforced disappearances, extrajudicial killings and torture in Bangladesh.
Also read: BNP renews call for Khaleda’s unconditional release
She also spoke of a neutral, independent and transparent investigation into the allegations, saying her office is ready to provide advice on how such a mechanism could be designed in line with international standards.
Replying to a question, Fakhrul said there is no atmosphere in the country to engage in talks with the ruling party over the country's political crisis.
“The political crisis here can't be resolved until our chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia is released, the cases (filed against our leaders and activists) are withdrawn and until this government resigns handing over power to a neutral caretaker government and dissolving Parliament,” he said.
Trashing some media reports on BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia’s worsening health condition, Fakhrul said she is now doing well and all the parameters of her health are good.
“I've talked to doctors they said she has no new major problem. Basically, she is ill with various health complications. But nothing new happened to take her to a hospital. Her condition has deteriorated further," he said.
UN can't investigate Bangladesh's internal issues: Quader
Awami League general secretary Obaidul Quader on Wednesday said that the United Nations has no jurisdiction to investigate any internal issue of Bangladesh.
“The UN has no jurisdiction to investigate the complaint that BNP made to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights over alleged mass murder," he said.
He was addressing a protest organized by Dhaka South Awami League Unit marking the 17th anniversary of the serial bomb blasts across the country during the regime of the BNP-Jamaat alliance in 2005.
Read: Quader asks party to be careful with words during crisis
He also called upon AL leaders and workers to unite as the party will have to work hard to realise the dreams of Badbangabandhu and uphold the spirit of the Lberation War.
The ruling Awami League held demonstrations across the country protesting the nationwide serial bomb attacks.
On August 17, 2005, a series of bombs went off at more than 500 spots across the country during the BNP-Jamaat alliance government.
Bachelet assures UN’s continued efforts to ensure safe repatriation of Rohingyas
Acknowledging Bangladesh’s great difficulty in dealing with the Rohingya crisis, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet on Sunday assured the UN’s continued efforts to realise safe and voluntary return of the Rohingyas to Myanmar.
She made the assurance when Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen said that protracted stay of the displaced Rohingyas in Bangladesh bears the risk of the spread of radicalism, transnational crimes and thus may hamper regional stability.
High Commissioner Bachelet, appreciating Bangladesh’s humanitarian gesture towards the Rohingyas, underscored the need for their education through fully operationalizing the learning centers in the camps.
Momen urged the High Commissioner to use her good office to effectively engage with Myanmar and repatriate the forcibly displaced Rohingyas to Myanmar.
Read: Momen once again clarifies the controversy over his “heaven” remark
He recalled that the Government took good care of the displaced Rohigyas during the pandemic by providing vaccines. He urged the UN system, including UNDP, to undertake projects in Rakhine to create a conducive environment for the return of the Rohingyas. He underscored that Bangladesh, as a developing country, strongly promotes the Right to Development.
She appreciated Bangladesh’s regular reporting to human rights treaty bodies, and suggested a mechanism for further streamlining this.
High Commissioner Bachelet also positively noted the possible upcoming visits of several Special Rapporteurs of the UN to Bangladesh, as well as Bangladesh’s efforts to implement the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) recommendations.
Bachelet, who is now on a four-day visit, had meetings with the Foreign Minister, Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan, Law Minister Anisul Huq and Education Minister Dr Dipu Moni on Sunday.
They discussed various dimensions of the human rights aspect of Bangladesh. During the meetings, Bangladesh Ministers highlighted the government’s “sincere efforts” to protect and promote human rights of the people.
Momen highlighted the government’s achievements in women empowerment, GDP growth despite the pandemic and political stability.
He also underscored the fact that, in Bangladesh the media is operating freely, with a large number of television channels and newspapers.
Law Minister Huq, during his meeting, briefed the High Commissioner on the progress made on the reviewing of the Digital Security Act (DSA), an area on which both sides are working together, underscoring that the DSA was enacted to combat cybercrimes.
Read: Bachelet didn’t express any concern over Bangladesh situation: Law Minister
Noting that Bangladesh is working towards establishing a social order where human rights are guaranteed, he underscored the need for further international support for human rights training.
Home Minister Asaduzzaman depicted how Bangladesh suffered from political violence and terrorism in past, and how the government has ensured safety and security combating all these challenges.
Both sides also appreciated the professional performances of Bangladeshi peacekeepers, including female peacekeepers.
The Home Minister, in response to the High Commissioner’s query, elaborated the government’s “sincere efforts” to fully implement the Chittagong Hill Tracts Peace Accord.
He also highlighted the prevailing religious harmony in the country, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Education Minister Dipu Moni briefed High Commissioner Bachelet on the measures undertaken by the government to ensure quality education, including introducing new curriculum, skill development initiatives, stipends for female students and access to education for disabled persons.
She also informed about the inclusive measures taken for the third gender people.
This is the first ever visit by any UN High Commissioner for Human Rights since the establishment of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights back in 1993.
UN humanitarian funding gap looms larger than ever: OCHA
Around $34 billion, the funding shortfall for aid operations is the biggest it has ever been, the United Nations humanitarian agency (OCHA) said recently amid a time when global needs are at an all-time high, with a record 303 million people in crisis.
"The UN appeals aim to reach 204 million of the most vulnerable. Never before have humanitarians been called to respond to this level of need, and they are doing so in ever more dangerous environments," OCHA spokesperson Jens Laerke said Friday.
The cost of UN-coordinated relief projects this year is close to $50 billion.
Although financing pledges have reached their highest level ever – totalling more than $15 billion – needs are outpacing funds.
"This is the largest gap we've ever had; also, it is also the largest amount of donor funding that has ever been committed," Laerke said.
Read: Bangladesh to provide Tk 1 crore grant to Afghanistan through UN OCHA
"However, the needs in the world are rising much, much faster than the donor funding is coming in."
According to data from the non-governmental organisation Humanitarian Outcomes, with which the UN partners annually to highlight these statistics, more than 140 aid workers were killed in the line of duty last year – the highest number of fatalities since 2013.
Another 203 aid workers were injured and 117 were kidnapped last year.
The OCHA said: "The most violent countries for aid workers continue to be South Sudan, followed by Afghanistan and Syria."
According to Humanitarian Outcomes, 168 aid workers have been attacked so far this year, leading to 44 fatalities.
UN human rights chief to visit Dhaka, Cox's Bazar Aug 14-17
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet will arrive in Dhaka Sunday on a four-day official visit at the invitation of the Bangladesh government.
This is the first official visit by a UN human rights chief to the country.
During her visit to Dhaka, the high commissioner is scheduled to meet with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and other ministers, her office said.
She will also meet with the National Human Rights Commission officials, representatives of civil society organisations and other stakeholders.
Also, Bachelet will deliver a speech at the Bangladesh Institute of International and Strategic Studies.
The high commissioner will also travel to Cox's Bazar where she will visit camps housing Rohingyas from Myanmar and meet with them, officials and non-governmental organisations.
Read: Bangladesh eagerly waiting to welcome UN rights chief Bachelet: Shahriar
Earlier, State Minister for Foreign Affairs Md Shahriar Alam said: "We are eagerly waiting for the visit. She will see the progress of Bangladesh on the rights front and will also be able to know about the challenges facing it."
Bachelet, who assumed her functions as the UN high commissioner for human rights in 2018, will also meet Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen, Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal and Law Minister Anisul Huq.
"They (PM Hasina and Bachelet) are very good friends," the state minister said, adding that they have experience in working together.
She will also try to understand how climate change is affecting the human rights situation in Bangladesh.
Bachelet was elected president of Chile on two occasions (2006 – 2010 and 2014 – 2018). She was the first female president of the country.
She recently indicated that she would not seek a second term for personal reasons as her term as high commissioner draws to a close.
UN disability rights committee to review 8 countries including Bangladesh
The UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) will review Bangladesh (Aug 24-25), Singapore, China, Indonesia, Japan, New Zealand, the Republic of Korea and Lao People’s Democratic Republic in its latest session from August 15 to September 9.
The eight countries are among the 185 States parties to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
They are required to undergo regular reviews by the Committee of 18 independent international experts on how they are implementing the Convention and the Committee's previous recommendations, said a media release on Thursday.
The CRPD, which has received the respective country reports as well as other submissions from non-governmental organizations, will discuss a range of issues with the eight State delegations through public dialogues on the following dates at Geneva time.
Read: UN disability rights committee to review Bangladesh, other 5 countries
The public dialogues will be held at Palais des Nations, Geneva.
The committee will also consider the situation of persons with disabilities in Ukraine and neighbouring countries receiving them as refugees or asylum-seekers.
A public meeting with concerned States parties is scheduled on August 17.
UN food price index dropped in July for fourth month
The U.N. Food and Agriculture Agency’s global food price index dropped for a fourth straight month in July, but was still 13% higher than in July 2021, the agency reported Friday.
FAO said last month’s 8.6% decline was the steepest monthly drop in the value of the index since October 2008. The index hit an all-time high in March, immediately following Russia’s Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine.
Read: Supply worries remain despite big drop in global food prices in July
The overall decline in the July index was led by significant drops in the vegetable oil and cereal indexes and lesser declines in the sugar, dairy and meat indexes, FAO said.
The FAO Food Price Index measures the monthly change in international prices of a basket of food commodities. It consists of the average of five commodity groups — cereal, vegetable oil, meat, dairy and sugar.