Planning Minister MA Mannan today called upon the international community to come forward in support of the forcibly displaced Rohingyas and to devise a permanent solution to this problem.
“As you are aware, the influx of more than one million Rohingyas from Myanmar is a costly stress on our development efforts. I call upon the international community to come forward in support of these forcibly displaced people and to devise a permanent solution to this problem… thereby the unfortunate people can return to their rightful abode,” he said, reports BSS.
The Planning Minister was presenting the country position paper of Bangladesh at the 75th Annual Session of the UN ESCAP at the ESCAP Hall in Bangkok, according to a message received in Dhaka.
Mannan said Bangladesh is a nation of 160 million people with a common dream of transforming the country into a developed nation by 2041 as dreamt by Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
He, however, said it is unfortunate that Bangladesh is one of the most vulnerable countries to climate change–although its contribution to the global carbon emission is almost zero.
“Climate change induced disasters are hurting millions of lives and creating extreme poverty in the country-posing great threat to our people’s dream of universal empowerment and equitable living for all. It is also causing massive migration of rural people to urban areas- challenging sustainable urbanization and creating ‘Climate Refugee’ within the country,” he added.
Therefore, the Planning Minister appealed to the whole international community through UNESCAP for collective action without further delay to save the people and the planet.
“Otherwise, all our development efforts would be meaningless and the human species may end up losing the only habitat they now have: the mother earth,” he said.
Mannan said Bangladesh’s Vision 2021 to turn the country into a modern, middle income economy coincides with the celebration of the 50th anniversary of its independence and the birth centenary of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. He said the year 2021 would also be an important year when Bangladesh is going to be qualified for consecutive second time by the UN-CDP for its graduation into a middle income country from the current LDC status.
The Planning Minister said these all historic events are happening at a time when Bangladesh is moving towards the magic figure of double digit growth crossing 8% in the fiscal year 2019 and more to 10 percent in the fiscal year 2021.
He said Bangladesh has been achieving a robust and consistent high GDP growth over the last decade as the growth rate has increased from 6.5 percent in 2014 to 8.13 percent last year. Bangladesh’s per capita GNI has increased by more than 250 percent between 2006 and 2018.
He also said the poverty rate has come down from 40 percent in 2006 to 21.4 percent in 2018, a fact which supports government’s current inclusive and equitable development policy.
The Planning Minister said the government has prepared the National Social Protection Strategy to protect the vulnerable and disadvantaged and promote inclusiveness and equity in the society. More than 7.6 million people in the country are covered nationwide under 130 social safety net programmes.
He informed the audience that the total expenditure on social safety net programs is now 13.81 percent of the national budget and 2.53 percent of GDP, this is one of the highest among the peer countries.
With a view to bring quality healthcare services to the rural people, Mannan said the government has set up more than 14,000 community clinics across the country. The average life expectancy in Bangladesh has increased to 72 years while the infant mortality rate and maternal mortality rate have dropped significantly.