UN human rights mission to open in Bangladesh

Bangladesh and the UN Human Rights Office this week signed a three-year Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to open a mission in the country to support promotion and protection of human rights.

The memorandum was signed by UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk and Asad Alam Siam, Foreign Secretary of Bangladesh, according to a statement of the UN Human Rights Office yesterday.

Since last August, the UN Human Rights Office's engagement with Bangladesh has significantly increased.

The office has been working with various stakeholders in advancing human rights reforms and conducting a comprehensive fact-finding inquiry into deadly repression of mass protests.

"The signing of this memorandum sends an important message of the country's commitment to human rights as a cornerstone of the transition," said Türk in the statement.

"It will enable my office to better support implementation of the recommendations made in our fact-finding report, as well as to engage directly on the ground with the government, civil society, and others with our expertise and assistance on the fundamental reforms Bangladesh is undertaking going forward," he said.

The new mission will offer training and technical assistance to the authorities across a range of areas, towards meeting the country's national and international human rights commitments, as well as undertake capacity-building for government institutions and civil society actors.