UN ASG Kirstine Damkjaer to visit Bangladesh Feb 11-12

Dhaka, 10 Feb  - Assistant Secretary-General of the United Nations and Deputy Executive Director of the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS), Kirstine Damkjaer, will pay an official visit to Bangladesh from February 11 to 12.

The visit aims to review the stage of cooperation between the government of Bangladesh and UNOPS to identify additional areas of cooperation focusing on issues of climate change, disasters and development cooperation, according to the UN.

The UN Assistant Secretary-General and UNOPS Deputy Executive Director will converge with high-ranking government officials and advisers of the interim government of Bangladesh, focusing on sectors in which UNOPS is already collaborating, such as healthcare, climate Change and Sustainable Infrastructure.

The UN Assistant Secretary-General will also visit the National Institute of Diseases of the Chest and Hospital (NIDCH), one of the 29 hospitals benefiting from the PSA oxygen plant project being implemented by UNOPS with funding from the Global Fund and in collaboration with the National Malaria Elimination Program and the Centre for Disease control and -Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).

This initiative is among the most significant healthcare support projects currently being implemented in Bangladesh.

During her visit to the hospital, she is expected to meet with the Director General of the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).

UNOPS supports the Government of Bangladesh in advancing the country’s healthcare services. UNOPS is also implementing the EU-UNOPS Lives in Dignity Grant Facility for the climate-induced migrants in the coastal regions with other stakeholders.

UNOPS supported Bangladesh as a Fund Manager through the ‘Strengthening Humanitarian Preparedness and Response’ programme USD 205 Million financed by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO).

In climate change and environmental sustainability, UNOPS supports the South Asia Cooperative Environment Programme (SACEP) in implementing the "Plastic Free Rivers and Seas for South Asia" project, financed by the World Bank.

Moreover, UNOPS has provided extensive procurement services to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoH&FW) to strengthen its operational capacities.