Govt making all-out efforts to implement SDGs: PM

ZOOMBANGLA DESK: Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said her government is tirelessly working to implement the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

“We’re making all-out efforts to implement the SDG agendas by incorporating its targets to the eighth fifth year plan and the perspective plan from 2021-2041,” she said.

The Premier said this when visiting Queen of Belgium and UN SDG Advocate Mathilde Marie Christine paid a courtesy call on her at her office here.

PM’s Speechwriter M Nazrul Islam briefed the newsmen after the meeting.

Referring to the Russia-Ukraine war, the Prime Minister said the entire world has become instable and the inflation rate has gone up due to war.

“Russia-Ukraine war should be stopped immediately as the people’s suffering has been mounting across the globe due to the war,” she said.

The visiting Queen highly praised the Prime Minister for tremendous development in Bangladesh’s various sectors particularly in women empowerment, development of women and children and female education.

“I am very happy to see the progress,” she said.

During the meeting, different issues including the Russia-Ukraine war, the displaced Rohingya issue, women empowerment, girls education, health, social safety net, disaster management and climate changes also came up for discussion.

Sheikh Hasina apprised the Queen of her government’s measures for ensuring women participation in politics, defence, judiciary and other fields.

The Premier also briefly described her government efforts made for spreading women education alongside generating employment for them.

She said they have also brought vulnerable women of the society that include elderly women, widows and abandoned women- under the social safety net programme.

As many as 5275 digital centres have been set up nationwide and every centre is being run by a man and a woman, she said.

The Premier said her government had set up more than 18,000 community clinics and health centres across the country, from where, mostly the women and children are getting primary healthcare services.

Some 30 types of medicine are distributed to the people free of cost from the clinics, she said.

On the Rohingya issue, the Prime Minister said they gave shelter to the forcibly displaced Rohingyas on humanitarian ground.

She added that her government had taken instant measures to give emergency healthcare services to several thousands of pregnant Rohingya women by setting up field hospitals in Cox’s Bazar camps immediately after they took shelter there.

The Premier said 34,000 Rohingyas have so far been relocated to Bhashanchar island from Cox’s Bazar which ensures an improved environment for them.

She however said the success of Bangladesh on disaster management has attained global acclamation.

The casualties in the recent cyclones and other disasters drastically declined, she said.

The government constructed cyclone shelter centres and durable houses in the coastal areas and trained up 85,000 volunteers throughout the country for disaster management, she said.

Noting that Bangladesh is one of the most climate vulnerable countries, Sheikh Hasina briefly described her government’s initiatives to offset the impacts of climate change.

In this connection, she said they have formed the climate trust fund with own finance, creating green-belt, building dams and durable houses in the coastal areas.

Information and Broadcasting Minister Dr Hasan Mahmud, PM’s Principal Secretary M. Tofazzel Hossain Miah and Maritime Affairs Secretary at the Foreign Ministry Rear Admiral (retd.) Md. Khurshed Alam were present at the meeting.

The Belgium Queen arrived in Dhaka on Monday morning on a three-day visit to Bangladesh. (BSS)