Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte has said Bangladesh is the champion against climate vulnerabilities.
He said this in a discussion with a Bangladesh delegation to Amsterdam International Water Week. Suraiya Begum, Senior Secretary, Prime Minister’s Office, headed the team from October 30 to November 3.
During the discussion, Bangladesh urged its global partners, especially those on the UN High Level Panel on Water (HLPW) and on the Delta Coalition, to strengthen cooperation on water and deltaic issues
Suraiya Begum attended the strategic dialogue as the Sherpa of Bangladesh, where the Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte was also present.
She highlighted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s commitment to ensuring safe drinking water and improved sanitation for all, particularly for girls, women, physically-challenged persons, and people living in hard to reach areas.
The Senior Secretary also had informal exchanges with the Dutch Prime Minister and discussed various Dutch initiatives at the HLPW, particularly the Valuing Water Initiative (VWI) supported by Bangladesh and Australia.
She proposed that the principles developed for the VWI should be examined through some programmes in Bangladesh to help understand whether the suggested principles will work at the implementation level.
The Dutch Prime Minister acknowledged his close acquaintance with Sheikh Hasina’s sincerity, commitment, and integrated actions in various social development activities in Bangladesh.
He reiterated his assurance to continue Dutch government’s support to Bangladesh.
Bangladesh as the outgoing Chair, Egypt as the incumbent Chair and Japan as the next Chair of the Delta Coalition, and the Netherlands as the host of the International Water Week made presentations during a dinner programme, arranged on the occasion on sustainable delta management.
Bangladesh Ambassador to the Netherlands Sheikh Mohammed Belal presented the outcomes of the Ministerial Conference of Delta Coalition and back-to-back Water Conference held in Dhaka on 28-30 July 2017.
Highlighting the Dhaka Declaration of the Delta Coalition Ministerial Conference and Delta Coalition Action Plan for 2017-2022, the Ambassador urged all the Delta Coalition member countries to strengthen global cooperation towards sustainable and prosperous deltas for the lives and livelihoods of the millions.
The Netherlands organises the event in Amsterdam biannually.
