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Sep 18, 2020 NEWSLETTER |
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Bangladesh economy shows sign of recovery from pandemic: ADB Asian Development Bank has highly lauded Bangladesh for managing its economy well amid the virus pandemic. Bangladesh economy has started recovering from the hurdles it faced during Covid-19 pandemic, according to Asian Development Outlook (ADO) 2020," published this week from its head office in Manila, Philippines. Moreover, owing to a raft of measures, put in place by Honourable Prime Minister (HPM) Sheikh Hasina, the country’s economy witnessed a record growth in the 10 years, giving rise to the hope for becoming the fastest growing nation in the Asia Pacific region. The economy sustains strong growth led by rising exports and record remittances inflow in the last decade, following the government’s timely measures. |
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Bangladesh once again top contributor of troops to UN peacekeeping missions 
Bangladesh is now the largest contributor of troops to UN peacekeeping missions with Over 6,800 personnel are deployed in eight out of 13 missions around the world. As of this week, 5,255 members of the Bangladesh Army, 345 of Bangladesh Navy, 582 of Bangladesh Air Force, and 654 members of Bangladesh Police, were currently deployed in different missions, and of them, 246 are female officials. Bangladesh was the largest contributor to peacekeeping missions in 2011, 2014 and 2015, the second-largest in 2012, 2012, 2013, 2017, and 2018, the third-largest in 2019, and the fourth largest in 2016. |
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Bangladesh elected executive member of 3 UN organisations 
Bangladesh has been elected a member of the executive board of the UNDP, UN Population Fund and the UN Office for Project Services, securing the highest votes (53 out of the 54 votes with 1 abstention) for the term 2021-2023 beginning in January next year. The election was held recently at the UN Headquarters where the 54 members of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) voted to elect members to eight of the ECOSOC subsidiary bodies. This achievement is the demonstration of the trust and confidence that Bangladesh enjoys due to her strong legacy of working together with the UN entities and their executive boards towards socio-economic emancipation of the country under the visionary leadership of HPM Sheikh Hasina. Bangladesh is also a current member at the executive boards of Unicef and UN Women. |
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HPM calls for global support to address climate refugee issue 
HPM Sheikh Hasina said G20 has a greater responsibility to come forward with stronger commitment to mobilise global support to address the issue of displacement or climate refugees. "Peace and security of all will largely depend on how we'll be able to manage this forced displacement of innocent people," she said. She made the comments while addressing the "Resilience and Recovery: Highlighting Solutions for the G20 on Climate and Sustainability" virtually from her official residence as keynote speaker organised by F20 Foundations. She said no one knows it better than Bangladesh as it has 1.1 million forcibly evicted Rohingyas from Myanmar and they are causing extensive damages to the environment and nature. "I'll urge G20 countries to mainstream the issue of losses and damages as in many parts of the world the environmental losses have become permanent and irreparable," she added. |
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Bangladesh a role model in access to sanitation 
Bangladesh has become a role model in ensuring access to improved sanitation with the government working to bring 100% people under the this privilege by 2030. According to statistics from the Department of Public Health Engineering (DPHE) under the Ministry of Local Government, Rural Development and Co-operatives, shows currently, about 99% of total population has access to improved sanitation. To popularise sanitary latrines, the DPHE, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the UNICEF have jointly provided latrine rings and slabs to the public at a low cost and occasionally gave it for free. Under the prudent leadership of HPM Sheikh Hasina, access to sanitation has reached to this milestone within a decade since the use of sanitary latrines in the country had been very low in 1990s. |
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New perspective plan targets jobs for 1000 youths from each upazila annually 
Emphasis has been placed on the employment-oriented growth for the country to become a high-income economy by 2041. To this end, the government's New Bangladesh Perspective Plan (2021-2041) has set a target of providing jobs to 1,000 youths – both male and female – from each upazila of the country every year. The government's long-term plan says the country will gradually transform from agricultural to industrial. By 2031, the industry's contribution to GDP will reach 40%. As a result of industrialisation, workers engaged in agriculture and the informal sector will come to the industrial sector. Vision 2041 and Perspective Plan 2041 rely on four institutional pillars, the beneficiaries of which will be the people, and they will be the main driving force in the process of growth and transformation. |
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5,00,000 social safety net accounts opened during Apr-Jun 
Low-income people have shown interest in opening bank accounts during the Covid-19 pandemic to receive money from various types of stimulus funds declared by the government to shore up the economy. As of June this year, the total number of accounts in different categories stood at 22,070,630. The figure is 3.24% higher than that of March this year and 13.19% higher than that of June last year. Farmers own 45% (10,270,143) of no-frills accounts while 34% (7,358,243) were opened under the social safety net programme. The extreme poor own 13% (2,723,995) of the accounts and freedom fighters 1% (254,197). |
The USA has assured Bangladesh that it will continue its support to bringing about a peaceful resolution to the protracted Rohingya crisis. The assurance came during a phone call by the Honourable US Defence Secretary Mark Esper to the Bangladesh Premier. The defence secretary said his government stands ready to offer any help to Bangladesh while he talked with the premier about the range of defense cooperation existing between Bangladesh and the USA. Meanwhile, the US wants Bangladesh to be its key Indo-Pacific partner, considering it a development success story that also serves as a bridge for commerce and an anchor for regional stability, according to media reports. |
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BANGLADESH AWAMI LEAGUE |
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