Description

The United Nations (UN) and its agencies are critical partners in Bangladesh’s growth and development. It was officially started with Bangladesh’s formal membership of the UN in September 1974. However, the relationship started long before that, and particularly the UN has its foothold in the critical moments of Bangladesh’s War of Liberation in 1971. On the one hand, there was an allegation that the UN Security Council (UNSC) was unable to understand and stop the Genocide in the then East Pakistan (now Bangladesh). The moment was arrested in the context of the Cold War rivalry between the United States and the former Soviet Union. On the other hand, it is also observed that the then UN Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim expressed his deep concerns about the plight of the citizens of the region. The UN launched a UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)-led humanitarian response, with assistance from World Food Programme (WFP), UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO). The UN agreed to oversee the emergency aid administration for the people of East Pakistan and 1,000,000 refugees in India (Ali, 2011). The UN East Pakistan Relief Operation (UNEPRO) and the UN Relief Operations in Dacca (UNROD) (later renamed the UN Relief Operations in Bangladesh [UNROB]) were formed to coordinate the relief effort and provide much-needed humanitarian assistance that rescued many lives during and following the conflict (Ali, 2011). Since then onwards, the UN has become a crucial partner in the national development of Bangladesh. It has contributed in facilitating the progress of economic, social, political, and security sectors of Bangladesh by offering technical and financial resources for the last forty years and more. Among various issues, it has been engaged in the development of infrastructure, empowerment of human resources and advocated a better governance mechanism in Bangladesh. Furthermore, Bangladesh has also become a significant troop and police contributing nation in UN peacekeeping operations since 1988, which has turned Bangladesh into a significant stakeholder in promoting global peace and security.