Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Sunday called upon the authorities concerned to make the Loss and Damage Fund fully operational. "The loss and damage fund should be operational completely," she said while UNOPS (United Nations Office for Project Services) Under Secretary General and Executive Director Jorge Moreira da Silva paid a courtesy call on her at her official Ganabhaban residence here. PM's Press Secretary Ihsanul Karim briefed the reporters after the meeting. Bus helper burnt to death as vehicle set on fire in Dhaka’s Demra The aim of the Loss and Damage Fund is to provide financial assistance to poorer nations as they deal with the negative consequences that arise from the unavoidable risks of climate change - for example: rising sea levels, extreme heat waves, desertification, forest fires, crop failures. The prime minister expressed dissatisfaction as the rich countries are not complying with their promises. "Response from the Loss and Damage Fund from the rich countries have yet to be adequate " she said while UNOPS Under Secretary General has brought the COP28 for discussion. 2 including Jubo Dal activist arrested in connection with Constable Amirul murder The prime minister said her government has taken various measures to make Bangladesh as a climate resilient country that included raising a climate trust fund by its own resources. She said they have given houses to the climate refugees at Khuruskul in Cox's Bazar under the Ashrayan Prokect-2. The premier said her government has built green belt, artificial mangrove forest and planted trees in huge numbers alongside giving climate resilient houses to the people along the costal belt. The UNOPS official highly praised the delopement of Banhladesh particularly the social safety net programmes and micro savings under the dynamic leadership of Sheikh Hasina. ADB provides $106 million to improve water management and agricultural productivity in Bangladesh He apprised the premier that the UNOPS in collaboration with DG of Health Services are constructing medical grade oxygen generating plants for 29 hospitals around Bangladesh. In response, the PM Hasina said," It will be better if the plants are constructed in all the 64 districts in Bangladesh. The premier greeted the UNOPS for responding the humanitarian need during the Rohingya influx in Bangladesh from Myanmar in 2017 and also during the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020. She appreciated the UNOPS expertise of managing projects. The premier said she believed that UNOPS proven expertise in project management can help improve the project implementation culture in Bangladesh. Ambassador-at-Large Mohammad Ziauddin and PM's Principal Secretary Md Tofazzel Hossain Miah were present at the meeting.

Ambassador Muhammad Abdul Muhith, Bangladesh's permanent representative to the United Nations, has been elected vice-president of the UNDP/UNFPA/UNOPS Executive Board for 2023 at the elections held in New York. This will enable Bangladesh to work closely with the other board members and the leaderships of these three vital UN organs and provide them with strategic guidance for their work. The ambassador of Kenya was elected president of the board on Tuesday. The other vice-presidents are ambassadors of Costa Rica, Ukraine and Türkiye. Read more: Switzerland, UNDP sign deal to promote peaceful, inclusive societies for sustainable development Ambassador Muhith is serving as the current chair of the UN Peacebuilding Commission and served as the president of the Executive Board of the UN Women last year. The UNDP, UNFPA and UNOPS have specific mandates to advance the UN's development agenda at the field level in realising Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The UNDP is the largest UN agency with a primary focus on poverty alleviation and sustainable development. The UNFPA covers population and family planning issues, while the UNOPS works in cross-cutting areas across peace, development and humanitarian matters. Read more: Liller vows to continue UNDP’s full support to Bangladesh

Executive Board President of UNDP, UNFPA and UNOPS Yoka Brandt has said the UN has a “strong relationship” with the government of Bangladesh and wants to further build on that to facilitate the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030. “We are here to see how we can work together more efficiently to that end, especially as the country is poised for LDC graduation,” said Brandt, also Permanent Representative of the Kingdom of The Netherlands to the UN. A high-level delegation of the Executive Board of UNDP (United Nations Development Programme), UNFPA (United Nations Population Fund) and UNOPS (United Nations Office for Project Services) visited Bangladesh on a week-long mission to see the projects implemented by the UN and met the government. Read: KOICA for strengthening community resilience progs in Bangladesh’s flood-prone regions Led by the board’s President Yoka Brandt, the delegation arrived in Dhaka on June 25 and left on July 1, according to UNDP. Foreign Secretary Masud Bin Momen said the UN has been a strong development partner for Bangladesh, and this mission is giving the scope to review and evaluate areas that need to be focused. “It is a very timely visit. The UN has been a partner of the Government and the people of Bangladesh since 1971, and this mission will allow us to take stock of where we stand and guide our future interventions,” said UN Resident Coordinator Gwyn Lewis.

Bangladesh’s Permanent Representative (PR) to the United Nations Ambassador Rabab Fatima has been elected as Vice President of the  United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), and United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) Executive Board.

Bangladesh has been elected member of the Executive Board of the UNDP, UNFPA and UNOPS securing the highest votes -- 53 out of the 54 with 1 abstention - for the term 2021-2023, beginning from January 1, 2021.

A 60-bed isolation and treatment centre has been set up in Teknaf to provide care to the suspected COVID-19 patients from the Rohingya refugee camps and the local community.