Bangladesh has been elected to the prestigious Economic and Social Council or ECOSOC of the United Nations (UN) from the Asia-Pacific region. The South Asian country secured its membership for a three-year term from 2020-22 after bagging 181 votes out of 191 in a secret ballot held at the UN General Assembly Hall on Friday presided over by President María Fernanda Espinosa Garcés.
Thailand, South Korea and China were also elected to the 54-member committee from the region. The UN panel aims to provide a platform for multilateral diplomacy and economic and social development throughout the world. Diplomats have hailed the win as ‘further recognition of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's leadership in taking the country forward.”
'It is an outstanding achievement for the people of Bangladesh ahead of the celebrations to mark the centenary birth anniversary of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and the golden jubilee of the country’s independence," the Permanent Representative (PR) of Bangladesh to the UN Ambassador Masud Bin Momen told media.
"ECOSOC membership will help us ensure sustainable development. It will also help to speed up the process of attaining Agenda 2030." Masud continued: "Bangladesh will get opportunities to work more effectively with various forums of the ECOSOC, including the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific, or UNESCAP.”
Bangladesh will begin its second term in the ECOSOC committee from January 2020. The country has also been elected to the United Nations Human Rights Council in 2018.