Civil society needs "space, and enabling conditions" to play their crucial role in identifying and helping resolve human rights challenges, UN Human Rights Chief Michelle Bachelet said Monday. She had "important exchanges" with a diverse range of civil society actors in the city, according to her office. Talking to reporters after the meeting at a city hotel, rights activist and coordinator of Nijera Kori Khushi Kabir said they talked about the human rights situation in Bangladesh highlighting both “positive aspects and weaknesses” and the areas where corrective measures are needed. “These issues were discussed clearly and openly,” she said.   Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association (BELA) Chief Executive Syeda Rizwana Hasan said she highlighted the challenges and role of international rights bodies. Read: Bachelet assures UN’s continued efforts to ensure safe repatriation of Rohingyas She said issues of democracy, digital security, accountability, good governance and environment came up for discussion in the meeting. ,  Barrister Sara Hossainm, who received the US Secretary of State’s International Women of Courage Award, said they shared the issues of those who work on human rights and provide legal support. Bachelet is scheduled to meet Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wednesday morning. She will make a statement on her four-day visit in the afternoon before her departure. She had meetings with four ministers, including Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen, Sunday. The top executive of the UN Human Rights body will also interact with the forcibly displaced Rohingya people during her Cox's Bazar trip. Through this visit, she would be equipped with concrete information to press hard for the repatriation of the Myanmar nationals to the ancestral homeland Rakhine, said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Bachelet arrived in Dhaka Sunday morning as Bangladesh continued "constructive dialogue" with her for the promotion and protection of human rights.

Michelle Bachelet, the chief of UN human rights, urged countries to address today’s systemic racism and “centuries of violence and discrimination” through reparations and other processes.