UNDP ready to support Bangladesh during transition

The United Nations Development Programme has reaffirmed its commitment to support the interim government of Bangladesh.

"Please count on our global and regional networks and expertise in areas such as economic recovery and strengthening of institutions of governance to support Bangladesh in this period of critical transition," UNDP Administrator Achim Steiner said in a letter to Chief Adviser Prof Muhammad Yunus on Friday.

On behalf of UNDP, Achim Steiner congratulated the new advisory council and wished that the council guide the nation through a peaceful, just, and democratic transition towards a more inclusive and prosperous future.

Meanwhile, the Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation, in a letter to Yunus, said the global community is relieved that the violence and brutality centring the protests have ended, resulting in the formation of the interim government.

The recent political unrest in Bangladesh is a clear expression of "your people's hunger for an inclusive, corruption-free, democratic government," said the letter shared by the Chief Adviser's press wing yesterday.

Cecilia L Lazaro, chairperson of the foundation and Susanna B. Afan, president of the Manila-based independent non-profit organisation, sent the letter.

Nobel Laureate Yunus also received the Ramon Magsaysay Award in 1984.

"May this new chapter in your country's history be defined by stability, not uncertainty; by equality, not inequality; and by leadership that upholds the fundamental rights of the common people and not the select few," it also said.