Bangladesh has urged the international community and the relevant UN agencies to scale up their efforts to share the international burden and responsibility given the protracted nature of the Rohingya crisis.
Permanent Representative of Bangladesh to the UN Ambassador Rabab Fatima made the call while speaking at the General Assembly Debate on “Strengthening of the coordination of humanitarian and disaster relief assistance of the United Nations, including special economic assistance” held on Friday.
Highlighting the humanitarian assistance provided by Bangladesh to the Rohingyas sheltered in Cox’s Bazar in cooperation with the UN and other humanitarian partners, she called for increased international attention to the situation in Myanmar to create the conditions for the safe and sustainable return of the displaced 1.1 million Rohingyas to their homeland.
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“The protraction of the crisis will further compound the already complex political and humanitarian situation in this region,” said the Ambassador.
On natural disaster and climate related humanitarian situations, she shared Bangladesh’s good practices and substantive investments in disaster-risk reduction, prevention, adaptation and resilience building, mitigation and relief. “We’ve adopted the Mujib Climate Prosperity Plan which shifts the focus from vulnerability to resilience building and prosperity.”
With regard to the growing incidents of displacements caused by natural disaster and climate change, the Bangladesh Ambassador said coordination and coherence among the relevant United Nations entities and other stakeholders need to be enhanced to meet the humanitarian needs of those displaced as a result of climate change.
In this regard, she highlighted the work of the Platform on Disaster Displacement.
The Bangladesh Ambassador also underlined the importance of transition from emergency response to preparedness and resilience-building in accordance with national priorities and the situation on the ground.
She said the international community must undertake development activities with a focus on building resilience and ultimately reducing dependency on humanitarian aid.
Recognizing the centrality of the role of women as first responders of humanitarian crises, she urged to strengthen gender-responsive policy development for disaster-risk reduction and mitigation.
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Ambassador Rabab Fatima also expressed deep concern at the denial of humanitarian access in many conflict situations and the indiscriminate armed attacks against humanitarian personnel and facilities.
She stressed the importance of ensuring accountability in the event of such violence.
Following the debate, the General Assembly adopted four resolutions on strengthening the coordination of humanitarian and disaster relief assistance of the UN.
Among those, the resolution on natural disasters was facilitated by the Bangladesh delegation on behalf of Group of 77 & China.