Staff Reporter:
UN Resident Coordinator in Bangladesh Gwyn Lewis on Tuesday said that despite the challenging global environment of 2022 the UN has continued to support Bangladesh to strengthen institutions, policies and implementation of a wide range of initiatives and services.
She said the UN made its efforts to strengthen food security, nutrition, water, sanitation and hygiene, education, child protection, support for survivors of gender-based violence, safe, orderly and regular migration, social protection, and health continue.
The development came as the UN in Bangladesh published the annual report of the key results of its de-velopment and humanitarian activities in 2022 on Tuesday.
In parallel to advancing support to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the UN in Bang-ladesh also worked to support the government in addressing the impact of climate induced crises in the country.
In May 2022, the country witnessed severe flash floods in Sylhet and Sunamganj impacting 7.2 million people and leaving millions displaced, she said.
“Economic damages in the region were estimated at upwards of $722 million. To support the immediate emergency response and to assist those worst affected by flash floods, the UN Central Emergency Re-sponse Fund (CERF) allocated $5 million to provide lifesaving support to the vulnerable communities in the worst-hit districts, with an overall response of $20.45 million mobilised by the international commu-nity,” Lewis said.
During the year, the UN country team continued to support Bangladesh in achieving progress on the Sustainable Development Goals through a wide range of projects, programs, and policies.
In the first year of implementation of the UN Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework (UNSDCF) 2022- 2026, the initiatives of the UN in the country touched millions and directly benefited hundreds of thousands of people.
Alongside advancing support to achieve sustainable development, the UN country team and its humani-tarian partners strengthened support for the country’s preparedness and response to climate-related disas-ters, and for the Rohingya humanitarian crisis, according to the report.
For the fifth year, Bangladesh continued to host close to one million Rohingya refugees from Myanmar, and must be commended for generously providing safety to the Rohingya refugees since August 2017, it said.
In 2022, the Joint Response Plan (JRP) for the Rohingya Humanitarian Crisis, a prioritized appeal of $ 881 million, received 59% of the requested funding ($ 520.5 million) by the end of the year and suc-ceeded in providing critical humanitarian and basic services, it said.
