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at that time complained that the Pakistan army was deliberately misusing this relief
operation. On 16 November the entire operation was taken directly by UN from
Pakistan control. This was a moral blow to the then administration of East Pakistan.
In the Aid-Consortium meeting of the World Bank held in Paris in June 1971, the
donor communities refused to give any new aid until normalcy was restored in East
Pakistan. East Pakistan is in effect without a government, this comment by the
World Bank added a new momentum to the war of liberation of Bangladesh. The
refugee problem in Bangladesh was also a serious item on the agenda of United
Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) in 1971.
After the emergence of Bangladesh, the United Nations started a massive relief and
rehabilitation operation. Kurt Waldheim, the Secretary General of UN, gave formal
announcement of United Nations Relief Operations in Dhaka (UNROD) on 21
December 1971, and appointed Sir Robert Jackson as Under Secretary General in
over-all charge. The operation was later enhanced and renamed as UNROB, an
acronym of United Nations Relief Operations in Bangladesh. When this operation
terminated its activities of emergency relief and rehabilitation as planned on 31
December 1973, UNROB had become until then the largest of its kind ever
conducted under the auspices of the United Nations.
The relationship between United Nations and Bangladesh further strengthened
when the UN Secretary General Kurt Waldheim visited Bangladesh on 9 February
1973 and met with the Prime Minister Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman to
discuss ways and means to rebuild the country. After this visit, United Nations
supports the nation building process of Bangladesh. With the assistance of the
United Nations, the Chalna Port, which was devastated during the war of Liberation,
was cleared off the sunken vessels. UN also arranged a chartered plan to bring back
the stranded Bangalis from Pakistan in July 1973.
It also guarantees rule of law, fundamental rights and economic and social equity as
well as freedom and justice.
Later in 1972, another round of activities were undertaken at the UN headquarters
in General Assembly session by a group of observers under the then Minister for
Foreign Affairs. However, Bangladeshs effort to be a full member failed twice
because of the veto exercised by China in the Security Council at the behest of the
Pakistan government headed by Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto.
Bangladesh formally joined the United Nations as its 136th Member state on 17
September 1974. After a week, on 24 September 1974, Bangabandhu Sheikh
Mujibur Rahman gave a speech in Bangla in the UN.
Though Bangladesh formally joined the United Nations on 17 September 1974, it
acquired membership of several other UN bodies well before that. Actually the first
UN body to welcome Bangladesh was the World Health Organization (WHO). It was
soon followed by Bangladeshs entry into most other specialized agencies and
programmes of the United Nations.
Bangladesh in United Nations: Since its entry as a member state, Bangladesh has
been playing significant role in the World Body. It is involved in political, security,
economic and social spheres of the UN activities. In pursuance of its national policy
Bangladesh lays emphasis on five key areas, namely development, environment,
democracy, human rights and peacekeeping.
Only a year after its membership to the United Nations Bangladesh was elected
Vice-President in the General Assembly in 1975, and served twice as member of the
Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) from 1976 to 1978, and from 1981 to 1983.
Bangladeshs representative Humayun Rasheed Chowdhury acted as the President
of the 41st session of the UN General Assembly in 1986-87.
Bangladesh was twice elected as non-permanent member of the Security Council,
first during 1979-1980, defeating Japan, and next during 2000-2001. Bangladeshs
first term (1979-80) in the Security Council marked the continuation of cold war
phase in world politics. In addition to the Arab-Israeli dispute, the Vietnamese
invasion of Kamputchea, the Soviet invasion in Afghanistan, Iranian hostage issue,
the Iran-Iraq war and African issues such as independence of Rhodesia and arms
embargo against South Africa figured out prominently in the agenda. Bangladeshs
joint efforts with other non-aligned member-nations to circumvent the Soviet vetoes
on Kamputchea and Afghanistan failed, but its similar efforts on dismantling of
Jewish settlements in occupied Arab territories proved to be successful on quite a
few occasions. On the hostage issue, in keeping with the recognised principle of
international law, Bangladesh supported the resolution for the release of American
diplomats held in Tehran. In the same period Bangladesh supervised on behalf of
the UN the elections in Rhodesia leading to its independence as Zimbabwe and was
elected as the chairman of the Security Councils Committee on Arms Embargo in
South Africa. During Bangladeshs second term (2000-2001), under the changed
diplomatic situation too, it played a significant role in the Council. Angola, Bosnia
Herzegovina, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Iraq, Kosovo, Sierra Leone and
East Timor dominated the agenda. During the period Bangladesh also made
important contributions as the chairman of the two committees, namely the
Committee Concerning Sierra Leone and the Working Committee on the Role of
Sanctions. Bangladesh also held the presidency of the Security Council in March
2000 and in June 2001.
Bangladesh became one of the strongest advocates for the establishment of a New
International Economic Order (NIEO) endorsed by the UN General Assembly in 1974.
In late 1978 Bangladesh served as a member of the preparatory committee to the
Assemblys special session devoted to disarmament and its diplomatic position on
the issue improved to some extent in August 1979 when it acceded to the NonProliferation Treaty (NPT). Bangladesh has contributed to the UN activities by
coordinating major groups of countries as the chairman of Group of 77 in 1982-83
and as the coordinator of Least Developed Countries since 1980. Bangladesh was
selected in the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in 1985,
and in the Committee on Trade and Development (CTD) of World Trade Organization
(WTO) in 1998. Former President of Bangladesh Abu Sayeed Chowdhury headed the
Human Rights Commission in 1985 and Bangladesh served as member of the
Commission on Human Rights with distinction during 1983-2000 and was elected to
the Commission for the term 2006-2008.
Bangladesh also participated in all major UN sponsored conferences, and the
conference held in 1990s under UN auspices are considered to be important as they
succeeded in adopting Declarations and plans of action by consensus. These
conferences include: The Education for All Conference (Jomtein, 1990), the World
Summit for Children (New York, 1990), the Earth Summit (Rio de Janeiro, 1992), the
Nutrition Conference (Rome, 1992), the World Conference on Human Rights (Vienna,
1993), the Conference on Population and Development (Cairo, 1994), the World
Summit on Social Development (Copenhagen, 1995), the fourth World Conference
on Women (Beijing, 1995), the Habitat II Conference (Istanbul, 1996), and the World
Food Summit (Rome, 1996). In the Beijing Conference in 1995, Bangladesh not only
officially participated but also encouraged NGOs to do so.
Bangladesh has ratified or acceded to most of the UN instruments such as
conventions, treaties and protocols. Of these some core conventions, treaties and
protocols that Bangladesh ratified or acceded include: International Convention on
the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, Convention on the Elimination
of all Forms of Discriminations against Women (CEDAW), Convention on the Rights
of the Child and International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, The
Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, The Agreement on the Prohibition of the Use At Anti
Personnel Mines, The United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification
(UNCCD), The Biodiversity Convention at Rio, Vienna Convention, Montreal Protocol,
ties with International Monetary Fund (IMF). IMFs loans ensure Bangladeshs stable
monetary policy. The World Trade Organization (WTO) has opened up Bangladeshs
trade opportunity. The World Health Organization (WHO) has been providing
technical assistance to Bangladesh for the development and strengthening of the
countrys public health systems since 1972. Bangladeshs health and drug policies
are being regulated consistent with the policies of WHO.
Many of the UN agencies in Bangladesh assist in preparing socio-economic projects,
conduct programmes of training and award fellowships or funds for research to
Bangladeshi nationals. The development strategy of Bangladesh is closely
coordinated with this UN agencies and each of these agencies has an office in
Bangladesh.
The relationship between Bangladesh and the UN during the past years reflects the
spirit of Bangladesh Constitution. Bangladeshs image is projected to the world
community through its close association with United Nations. In a politically divided
and economically antagonistic world the United Nations remains the only
Organization for the world to remain undivided and peaceful. Bangladesh is
principally committed to uphold UN principles. [Urmee Hossain]
Bibliography Bangladesh and the United Nations Thirty Years of Partnership, United
Nations Association of Bangladesh (UNAB), Dhaka, 2004; Bangladesh and the UN:
25 years of Cooperation, United Nations Association of Bangladesh (UNAB), Dhaka,
2000; Nurul Momen (ed.), UN and Bangladesh, Cooperation for Development,
Dhaka, 1995; Bangladesh and the United Nations (1986-87), United Nations
Association of Bangladesh (UNAB), Dhaka, 1987; Nurul Momen, Bangladesh-UN
Partnership in The Daily Star, February 19, 2006.