Fragile Bangladesh must now be rebuilt: PM

Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) have an undeniable role in the process of rebuilding the country, he said.

The Prime Minister was addressing the national conference on ‘Navigating Five-Year Strategic Framework for Achieving SDGs: Policy, Partnership and Priority 2026’ at Bangladesh-China Friendship Conference Centre in city today.

“Exploitation of the fascist for more than one and a half decades had made Bangladesh into a fragile, which now needs to be rebuilt in every sector, including education, health and the environment,” he said.

General Economics Division (GED) of the Bangladesh Planning Commission and the Governance Innovation Unit (GIU) of the Prime Minister’s Office jointly arranged the conference.

The Prime Minister said the government has taken initiatives to implement a five-year strategic economic plan aimed at ensuring people’s prosperity, aligning the country’s national development plans with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) adopted by the United Nations.

Referring to BNP’s people-oriented policies, Tarique Rahman said the party’s plans and programmes had always been designed for the welfare of the people.

“There is very little difference between the development agenda of BNP and MDGs and SDGs of the United Nations. Shaheed President Ziaur Rahman’s 19-point charter and ‘Vision 2030’ of former Prime Minister Begum Khaleda Zia perfectly enshrined the UN sponsored vision and mission,” he said.

The Prime Minister said Bangladesh had demonstrated its success in implementing the MDGs and was also taking appropriate measures to implement the SDGs. 

“You will notice that the SDG principle of ‘No One Left Behind’ is also reflected in the people-oriented policy of the present government,” he said.

“Our government’s policy is ‘Bangladesh for All’ to ensure the interests of people from all walks of life,” he added.

Tarique Rahman said his government’s five pillars of reform and development reflected the key priorities of the SDGs, including poverty eradication, universal social protection, quality education and healthcare, gender equality, climate resilience and good governance, reports BSS.

He said the government had adopted a “Three-R” strategy- Recovery, Rehabilitation and Reconstruction- to consolidate the progress achieved in SDG implementation and the country’s graduation from the list of least developed countries (LDCs).

“Under the strategy, everything from temporary stabilization to long-term structural transformation will be implemented under an integrated roadmap,” he said.