Ambassador Muhammad Abdul Muhith, Bangladesh’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, has been elected as the Vice President of the UNDP/UNFPA/UNOPS Executive Board for 2023 at the elections held today in New York. The Ambassador of Kenya was elected as the President of the Board. The other Vice-Presidents are Ambassadors of Costa Rica, Ukraine, and Türkiye. This will enable Bangladesh to work closely with the other board members and the leaderships of these three vital UN organs and provide them with strategic guidance.
The UNDP, UNFPA, and UNOPS have specific mandates to advance the UN’s development agenda at the field level in realizing Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). UNDP is the largest UN agency, primarily focusing on poverty alleviation and sustainable development. The UNFPA covers population and family planning issues, while UNOPS works in cross-cutting areas across peace, development, and humanitarian matters.
This election comes as a demonstration of the trust and confidence that Bangladesh enjoys due to her strong legacy of working together with the UN entities and their Executive Boards for the implementation of the global development agenda under the leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
It may be mentioned that Ambassador Muhith is serving as the current Chair of the UN Peacebuilding Commission and served as the President of the Executive Board of UN Women last year.