UN Resident Coordinator in Bangladesh Gwyn Lewis has said the government of Bangladesh is playing a critical, and often life-saving role in responding to climate-related disasters. "Anticipating climate risks is one way we can better support the government to act promptly and mitigate the impacts of disasters. The ultimate goal is to help affected people so that they can recover and get back to normal as soon as possible,” she said thanking the Ministry of Disaster Management and Relief for co-organising a meeting to that end. Strengthening collaboration on disaster risk management for the government-led emergency response was discussed at the first meeting of the Humanitarian Coordination Task Team (HCTT) on Wednesday co-chaired by Secretary of the Ministry of Disaster Management and Relief (MoDMR), MD Kamrul Hasan, and the UN Resident Coordinator in Bangladesh, Gwyn Lewis. The Humanitarian Coordination Task Team meeting was attended by government officials, UN agency focal points, representatives of non-governmental organisations (NGOs), international organisations, the Red Cross Movement and the Red Crescent, and diplomatic missions. Welcoming meeting participants, Gwyn Lewis spoke about the importance of strengthening joint disaster response efforts so that when a flood or a cyclone hits Bangladesh, people that are impacted are supported in the best and quickest way possible. The Secretary thanked UN Resident Coordinator Gwyn Lewis for collaborative efforts to implement the 2019 National Plan for Disaster and the Standing Order on Disaster (SoD) and said that the HCTT and cluster collaboration need to transform considering muti-hazard early warning for all, anticipatory action, internal displacement management, and environmental protection. “Bangladesh is one of the most disaster-prone countries in the world. In addition, recent rapid urbanisation has increased the risk of earthquakes as well as man-made disasters. The recent fire incident in Sitakunda, Chittagong district and the protracted floods in Sylhet district reminds us of the necessity of efficient response,” he said, noting that protection and gender should be at the centre of the coordination work. Read more: Gwyn Lewis of Ireland appointed UNRC in Bangladesh Overall, following the June 2022 floods, the Humanitarian Coordination Task Team and its partners mobilised around 20 million US dollars to respond to the most urgent needs reflected in the Government's Flash Flood Response Plan. Another key achievement of this humanitarian coordination mechanism in 2022 was the creation of the INFORM Sub-national Risk Index of Bangladesh: an open source for risk assessment at the local level that is used to identify vulnerable populations. Participants of the event talked about ways to enhance collaboration and strengthen humanitarian preparedness and response to climate-related disasters. HCTT members agreed to improve the disaster risk information system and to coordinate humanitarian work through effective planning, monitoring and resource mobilisation. The Humanitarian Coordination Task Team (HCTT) is a working group and it was set up in 2012 to provide operational-level support coordinating disaster risk management, preparedness, and response efforts of government, national and international organisations in Bangladesh. Since 2016, the HCTT collectively raised over 103 million USD for nine different response plans in Bangladesh.

On the eve of the Victory Day, UN Resident Coordinator in Bangladesh Gwyn Lewis on Thursday said  the United Nations stands with Bangladesh in partnership and wished all Bangladeshi nationals, in the country and abroad a very happy Victory Day. “Bangladesh’s achievements in human development and disaster response, long before it became a middle-income country, made it an example for other countries to emulate,” she said congratulating Bangladesh on Victory Day. Read more: Bangladesh set to celebrate Victory Day Friday On 16 December, Bangladesh will celebrate its 51st anniversary of Victory Day. The country has been on an extraordinary voyage from being a war and famine-ravaged newborn nation, to its current standing as a United Nations member state standing at the threshold of LDC graduation, and providing shelter to nearly a million Rohingya refugees, Lewis said.    “Bangladesh too has contributed to shaping the UN’s development agenda and peace operations globally. Bangladesh has also been a vocal advocate for multilateralism, climate justice and the interests of least developed countries,” she said. Bangladesh sponsored the Culture of Peace resolution that was unanimously adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1999. Read more: Indian war veterans to join Bangladesh’s Victory Day celebrations in Dhaka And it was thanks to Bangladesh’s advocacy that the UN General Assembly recognized the International Mother Language Day in 2008. “Bangladesh’s advocacy internally for the rights of the most vulnerable, and its constitution illustrates the country’s determination to be a democracy in which fundamental human rights and freedoms and respect for the dignity and worth of the human person shall be guaranteed,” said the UNRC. The UN has been a partner of the government and the people of Bangladesh since its birth. Starting with UNHCR in 1971, 22 UN agencies now have operations in the country. “Wishing everyone a happy Victory Day!,” Lewis said.

UN Resident Coordinator in Bangladesh Gwyn Lewis on Tuesday (November 08, 2022) said loss and damages, and adaptation need to be on the table at COP27 and urgent steps need to be taken to provide financial and technological support to most impacted countries like Bangladesh. “Climate action is obviously on top of the agenda,” she said, touching on some of the areas of UN’s focus to support Bangladesh. Speaking at “DCAB Talk”, held at Jatiya Press Club in Dhaka, Lewis said climate change is also impacting Bangladesh’s economy. DCAB President Rezaul Karim Lotus and General Secretary AKM Moinuddin also spoke at the event. Read more: Political violence 'absolutely a concern', says UN Resident Coordinator The UNRC said COP27 comes at a time when South Asia is “impacted in unprecedented ways” by climate change, whether it is the floods in Sylhet and Sunamganj, Bangladesh or in Pakistan and repeated cyclones in India and Bangladesh in recent years. “Unfortunately, climate talks have been bogged down with politics and economic pressures, so we need to see more citizen action and listen to the voices of people living in Bangladesh, particularly young people and women who are often excluded,” she said. One of the recommendations following the recent visit of the Special Rapporteur on Climate Change and Human Rights to Bangladesh was to focus on inclusion and making sure the voices of the most marginalised were included in decision-making, said the UN official. “UN plans to further work on supporting the government to implement the national adaptation plan and the other policy frameworks such as the Delta Plan and the Mujib Climate Prosperity action plan,” she said, adding that the UN with their NGO and Red Crescent partners are also supporting disaster risk management and humanitarian efforts led by the ministry. Read more: 'Highway to climate hell with foot on accelerator': UN Chief warns at COP27 Lewis said there are also ongoing programmes to support migrants and displaced people who are forced to leave their homes due to the impact of climate change. By one estimate, up to 50% of those now living in Bangladesh’s urban slums may be there because they were forced to flee their rural homes as a result of riverbank erosion or flooding, she said. The data shows that from 2000 to 2019, Bangladesh suffered economic losses worth over $3.72 billion due to extreme weather events linked to climate change, said the UN official. This leads to another area of work that the UN is supporting in Bangladesh – economic growth and LDC graduation, she said. Read more: Honour COP26 commitments, double provisions for adaptation by 2025: PM Hasina writes “The growth of Bangladesh’s economy over the past 20 years has been extraordinary, as has been the reduction in poverty,” Lewis said. Before coronavirus hit the country, Bangladesh had been advancing fairly well to qualify for graduation. “Although the pandemic has been disruptive, the economy remained on a positive track. However, the current food and fuel crisis generated by the war is also creating pressures and uncertainty, including for the markets for Bangladeshi goods overseas,” Lewis said. In this global climate, she said, although there are benefits to LDC graduation, there are also risks. Read More: COP27: Bangladesh to reiterate call to materialize $100bn pledged for developing countries The UN official said graduation will enhance the confidence of the country in dealing with the international financial bodies, improve Bangladesh’s credit rating and attract higher foreign direct investment flow. However, she said, graduation will also affect certain preferential treatments in trade, subsidies to agriculture and access to some LDC-specific funds. “The risks need to be mitigated and this is where I hope that the UN’s technical support can be useful,” Lewis said, adding that further diversification and greater efforts are needed to attract foreign direct investment and meet the requirements for trade agreements when Bangladesh reaches middle income status. She said the UN is working to support the government in the development of a smooth transition strategy. Training of young people in IT and new technologies to make them better equipped for the future is one area where effort could be expanded. Read More: COP27: UN experts for complete integration of human rights standards, principles into negotiations Another is the creation of new industries and continuing to make Digital Bangladesh a reality, said the UN official. “I would also like to emphasize however, as important as LDC graduation is, middle income status is only a stepping stone,” Lewis said, adding that ultimately the objective is to achieve sustainable development goals and leave no one behind. The UN official said achieving the SDGs goes beyond economic growth and focuses on improving health, education, social protection and good governance. Bangladesh’s social indicators, such as gender equity, women’s empowerment, mortality rate, life expectancy, immunisation and access to water and sanitation have improved dramatically over the past 50 years, she said. Read What can COP27 do for climate vulnerable countries? Investments in social services, however, need to continue to grow with the growing population, and with the growing expectations of people who are living in a middle-income country, UN Resident Coordinator in Bangladesh Gwyn Lewis said.

Newly appointed UN Resident Coordinator Gwyn Lewis met BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir on Tuesday. The meeting was held at the BNP chairperson's Gulshan office.  BNP standing committee member Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury and organising secretary Shama Obayed were also present at the meeting. Contacted, Amir Khasru said it was just a courtesy call with the newly appointed UN envoy. Read: No conspiracy can stop country’s development spree: Quader He declined to give any details about what they discussed in the over hour-long meeting. This is the first meeting between Gwyn Lewis and the BNP leaders since she was appointed as the UN Resident Coordinator (UNRC) in Bangladesh.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has appointed Gwyn Lewis of Ireland as the United Nations Resident Coordinator in Bangladesh, with the host government’s approval. With more than 20 years of experience in international development, peacebuilding, and humanitarian affairs, Lewis previously served as Director of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) Affairs in the West Bank, and Deputy Director of Programmes for UNRWA Affairs in Lebanon. Also read:USAID launches $20mn project to protect critical forests, wetland areas in Bangladesh Lewis, who is fluent in English and French, also managed the Global Clusters Coordination section in the Emergency Division of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in Geneva, according to the UN.  She joined the agency from the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), where she focused on humanitarian policy and supporting FAO country offices. Lewis also served in the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Geneva, building partnerships between the United Nations and non-governmental organizations, and supporting the rollout of the humanitarian reform agenda. Also read: Bangladesh tops list of new countries to invest in: US delegation She has also worked for both the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, the United Nations Mission in Kosovo and various non-governmental organizations in Tajikistan, Afghanistan and Albania. The holder of a master’s degree in international relations and European studies from the University of Kent, Canterbury, in the United Kingdom, Lewis also has a bachelor’s degree in economics from San Francisco State University in the United States.