The New Nation - Internet Edition

UNB, New York

Chief Adviser Dr Fakhruddin Ahmed on Monday reiterated the Bangladesh's firm commitment to further strengthening its support and cooperation for the development of Africa.

The head of the caretaker govenrment made the remarks while intervening the second high level roundtable meeting on 'Africa's Development Needs: State of Implementation of Various Commitments, Challenegs and the Way Forward'. The roundtable was held at the ECOSOC Conference Hall at the UN Heqadquaters, which was preceded by High Level Plenary Meeting on the same theme in the morning.

President of Rwanda Paul Kagame and Presdient of Finland Jarja Halonen co-chaired the roundtable attended by heads of government and state of various countries.

President of Mozambique, President of Madagascar, US Secretary of State and executive secretary of ECA, among others, spoke at the roundtable till 12 noon (local time) when the report was filed.

Earlier, the Chief Adviser attended the High Level Plenary Meeting, at the UN General Assembly Hall, on the Theme 'Africa's Development Needs: State of Implementation of Various commitments, challenges and the way forward'.

Chief Adviser Dr Fakhruddin Ahmed said: "Within the framework of South-South cooperation, countries like Bangladesh can meaningfully contribute to Africa's sustainable development.

"Over the years, Bangladesh has successfully pioneered a number of innovative ideas to development like micro credit, non-formal education and women empowerment."

He said Bangladesh is willing to share her 'Green Revolution' experiences with the fellow LDCs especially those in Africa. "We must remain comrades in our quest for peace, development and prosperity."

He said micro credit has now been replicated in around 100 countries, including many in Africa.

As a member of the organizational committee of the Peace-building Commission, the Chief Adviser said Bangladesh is actively engaged in supporting the ongoing development efforts in Burundi and Sierra Leone.

He said the development partners and the international community should also take steps to help Africa integrate into the global economy through foreign direct investment

"We are deeply concerned that since 2005 the ODA-GNI ratio for developed countries has declined from 0.33 percent to 0.28 percent. It falls far short of the G-8 Gleneagles pledge in 2005 to double aid to Africa," he told the roundtable.

Dr Fakhruddin said Bangladesh has been an active and ardent proponent of peace and development for Africa. There has hardly been a UN Peacekeeping mission in Africa in the last two and half decades in which Bangladesh did not participate.

Currently around 10,000 Bangladeshis are working in 12 UN peacekeeping missions, he said.

Bangladesh send its peacekeepers even to the highest risk areas. "We do so in line with our deep commitment to the UN charter and in the sprit of solidarity with our African brethren," the Chief Adviser said.

Foreign Adviser Dr Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury and UN Permanent Representative to UN Ismat Jahan also attened the round table.