FT ONLINE

The newly appointed Country Representative of the UNFPA in Bangladesh, Dr Asa Torkelsson on Wednesday lauded Bangladesh's stellar achievements in the field of women empowerment, ensuring gender parity and sexual and reproductive health.

She also assured UNFPA's continued support for overall development of the country and commended Bangladesh's graduation from one of the least developed countries (LDCs) to middle-income one.

Torkelsson's comments came when she presented her credentials to Foreign Minister A H Mahmood Ali at the latter's office yesterday, a spokesperson of the ministry said.

In response, Ali highlighted improvement of maternal health and lowering of child mortality as priority issues of the government.

He expressed deep appreciation for long-standing cooperation between GoB and UNFPA in diverse fields, such as, sexual and reproductive health, capacity building of institutions, and prevention of gender based violence.

The foreign minister thanked UNFPA for partnering with the government for humanitarian response towards the forcibly displaced Myanmar nationals.

Referring to government's commitment to achieve Sustainable Development Goals, Ali expressed his hope that UNFPA will come forward in this regard.

He also mentioned about the government's success in achieving Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) ahead of the time.