The United Nations will support Bangladesh in wide ranging
areas including police and election reforms as the interim government rolls out
major restructuring of the country's institutions, said the UN's resident
coordinator in Dhaka.
The chief of UN in Bangladesh, Gwyn Lewis, came up with
assurance when she paid a courtesy call on Chief Adviser Professor Muhammad
Yunus at his Tejgaon office on Sunday. During the meeting, they discussed
reforms, corruption, floods, Rohingya crisis and the UN-led investigation on
the July-August carnage. Gwyn Lewis expressed her support for the reform
initiatives undertaken by the interim government and she thanked Professor
Yunus "for taking up extraordinary role" as the head of the
post-revolution administration. The Chief Adviser said this was the "most
unifying moment" for the whole nation and the main job of his government
was to "set an example" for everyone. "This is a great
opportunity for the country to reform the economy and fix almost every
institution," he said. Gwyn Lewis enquired about the reforms in the
security forces including police administration. The chief adviser said the
government has made police reform a top of its priorities. He said the
government was also committed to setting up an integrated national IT system,
which will ease hassles and cut corruption in the country. Prof Yunus said
the government has also formed a commission to make major reform in the
electoral system so that votes can be held in a free and fair manner.
Lewis said the UN-led investigation team has already started
working on the murders and mayhem committed during July and August. She
said UN agencies, WHO and ILO, were looking at ways to help the injured victims
and people who were traumatised by the events. The UN resident coordinator said
the UN has provided four million dollars for the post flood rehabilitation in
the country's eastern and southern region. She said some 18 million people
in Bangladesh have been hit by floods since the beginning of the monsoon and
the UN was coordinating aid from the agencies and charities for the flood
victims. Prof Yunus sought UN help for instituting an early warning system for
floods in South Asia. They also discussed environmental, climate change and the
Chittagong Hill Tracts issues, with Lewis outlining the aid work the UN
agencies have done in the three hill districts. Prof Yunus sought UN help for
building a better future for the Rohingya children in the camps, saying "a
whole generation of angry young people is growing up there".
