The United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) is set to establish a mission branch in Bangladesh, with the foundational draft agreement currently under discussion. Foreign Affairs Adviser Md Touhid Hossain confirmed this development today.
“It is still at the draft stage,” Hossain told reporters at the foreign ministry this afternoon when asked about the specific conditions under which the OHCHR office would be established in Dhaka. He further elaborated, “Once the draft exchange is complete and we reach a final agreed draft where not even a word needs to be changed, we will sign it. At that point, we will be able to share the details with you. Until then, it is better not to discuss it while it remains in draft form.”
The Adviser revealed that Bangladesh and OHCHR have exchanged the draft with revisions four times. The latest changes made by Dhaka are currently under review by the OHCHR. Hossain also noted that, in principle, both Bangladesh and OHCHR have agreed to establish the office in Dhaka for an initial period of three years, with a review scheduled after two years.
This plan to open an OHCHR mission branch in Bangladesh recently received policy-level approval during a meeting of the Advisory Council. This move comes after the interim government itself requested the deployment of an OHCHR fact-finding mission following student-led protests in July-August 2024. The UN Human Rights Office deployed a mission that was supported by a forensic physician, weapons expert, gender expert, and open-source analyst, among others, to investigate alleged human rights violations.
Meanwhile, addressing a question regarding the proposed name for the next UN Resident Coordinator in Bangladesh, Hossain stated, “We will need to provide the agrément (official consent). We have not yet processed the agrément. Let the process proceed, and then we will respond.” Currently, Gwen Lewis serves as the UN Resident Coordinator in Dhaka.
The establishment of this OHCHR office is expected to support Bangladesh’s transition process, including offering advice on legal, institutional, economic, and social reforms, transitional justice, reconciliation, and healing. Such offices are typically established at the invitation of the host government and aim to assist during periods of reform and fragility.
