The New Nation - Internet Edition

UNB, Dhaka

Baroness Tonge will arrive here on Monday on a 3-day to officially launch the Dhaka Initiative's report on 'Bihari Settlements in Bangladesh".

The Dhaka Initiative was set up to establish the wishes of the Biharis and to help them achieve a sustainable future.

A British Council release said a survey of camp dwellers, carried out on behalf of the Dhaka Initiative and covered in the report, revealed that 80% per cent were born after liberation and that 98% wanted to participate fully in Bangladeshi society as equal citizens.

During her visit, Baroness Tonge will meet the Law Adviser, Trustees of the Dhaka Initiative and the Acting Head of DFID in Bangladesh.

She will also visit the DFID funded project in Narayanganj - "Urban Partnerships for Poverty Reduction" and will have a luncheon meeting with international organisations and attend a press conference.

Baroness Tonge of Kew, Member, House of Lords, elected as an MP in 1997, and became peer in the dissolution honours in 2005. She joined the Liberal Party at UCL in 1959. She became a regular election helper and campaigner, including Chair of Richmond and Barnes Liberal Party in 1978.

In 1981, she was elected as a Liberal Councillor for the Kew Ward in the London Borough of Richmond-upon-Thames. She chaired the Social Services Committee for four years. During her nine years as a Councillor, she served on almost every major Council Committee. She was also Chair of Governors at Waldegrave School She was Head of Women's Services for Ealing Health Authority 1983-89, Medical Officer to London Youth Advisory Service 1989-92, Community Services Manager in Southall from 1992. She was the Liberal Democrat Shadow International Development Secretary until standing down in 2003.