Unesco lauds Bangladesh�s progress in edu sector
PM invited to attend �Leader�s Forum� in Paris in November
UNB
Director General of Unesco Irina Bokova has appreciated the progress made by Bangladesh in achieving gender parity in education, reports UNB. She also highly commended the political will and the policies of the government of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina regarding women education. The Unesco DG made the remarks when Foreign Minister AH Mahmood Ali met her at the Unesco Headquarters in Paris. During the meeting, she expressed her satisfaction over the existing cooperation between Bangladesh and Unesco. She appreciated Bangladeshs progress in achieving gender parity in education, and highly commended the political will and the policies of the current government with regard to womens education. The foreign minister sought her support for capacity building in the area of blue economy and for the preservation, promotion and recognition of cultural heritage of Bangladesh in the global arena. She assured Ali of all possible support from UNESCO. Irina Bokova reiterated her invitation to Sheikh Hasina to address the high-level conference titled Leaders Forum that will take place at Unesco headquarters in November next.
The Foreign Minister sought the DGs support for capacity building in the area of blue economy and for the preservation, promotion and recognition of the cultural heritage of Bangladesh in global arena. She assured the Foreign Minister of all possible support from Unesco in this regard and informed the Foreign Minister about the progress of the establishment of International Mother Language Institute (IMLI) in Dhaka as a Unesco category ll Centre.
Mahmood Ali later held a meeting with President of Foreign Affairs Commission of French National Assembly Elisabeth Guigou at the Assembly.
Vice President of the Commission and President of the France-Bangladesh Parliamentary Friendship Group Odile Saugues briefed them about the zero tolerance policy of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina against all forms of terrorism and extremism.
The Commission President enquired about the political situation in Bangladesh and the Foreign Minister gave an account of the terrorist activities of BNP-Jamaat alliance in 2013 and again earlier this year, causing loss to human lives and economy.
He sought the French governments continued support for further strengthening of the democratic system of Bangladesh and Bangladeshs efforts towards accelerated economic development.
About the CoP 21, the Foreign Minister applauded France for hosting the Paris Climate Conference in December 2015 and conveyed Bangladeshs support in reaching a universally accepted legally-binding agreement.
