Ms. Catherine Elisabeth Diehl Breen Kamkong, the newly appointed Representative of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) to Bangladesh, paid her maiden courtesy call and formally presented her credentials to the Foreign Adviser of Bangladesh, H.E. Mr. Md. Touhid Hossain, today.
The Foreign Adviser warmly welcomed Ms. Kamkong to Bangladesh and congratulated her on assuming her new responsibilities. He appreciated IINFPA’s long-standing partnership with Bangladesh and acknowledged the organization’s vital contributions in key areas such as maternal health, family planning, gender equality, youth empowerment, and humanitarian response. Highlighting the government’s commitment to inclusive development, he emphasized the importance of strengthening efforts to reduce preventable maternal deaths and improve access to reproductive health services, particularly for underserved communities in urban slums.
Ms. Kamkong, an Australian national with over 20 years of experience in international development and humanitarian response, expressed her deep honour to serve in Bangladesh at such a pivotal moment of demographic transition. She reaffirmed UNFPA’s commitment to achieving the three transformative results by 2030: zero preventable maternal deaths, zero unmet need for family planning, and zero gender-based violence and harmful practices. She also stressed the need for addressing inequalities, promoting adolescent and youth health, ending child marriage, and tackling the challenges linked to population dynamics and climate change.
Both sides underscored the importance of ensuring education for every child. The UNFPS delegation also informed that they are working closely with the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) to strengthen data generation for evidence-based policymaking and acknowledged the complexities of implementing programs in Bangladesh’s rapidly urbanizing environment.
The Foreign Adviser assured the Government of Bangladesh’s continued cooperation with UNFPA in all priority areas and wished Ms. Kamkong every success in her new assignment.