The Director General of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), Ambassador Manuel Sager, arrived in Dhaka on Sunday for a five-day visit. SDC is the government agency in Switzerland responsible for international development cooperation. The embassy said the objective of the visit is to better understand the key development challenges facing Bangladesh, including the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Cox’s Bazar, and to gain a first-hand impression about Switzerland’s development interventions in Bangladesh.
During the visit till January 9, Sager will meet with senior officials of the government of Bangladesh, development partners and other key stakeholders to discuss about the national implementation of Agenda 2030, the current trajectory of socio-economic developments in Bangladesh and the Rohingya refugee crisis. On January 6, Sager will travel to Cox’s Bazar to visit the Rohingya refugee camps to observe the conditions of the refugee population and host communities.
In Cox’s Bazar he will also meet with the Bangladeshi district officials and representatives from international and non-governmental organisations to discuss about the humanitarian conditions. Since 2017, Switzerland has committed more than $30 million in humanitarian aid to alleviate the sufferings of the Rohingya refugees as well as the host communities.
Sager will also visit several SDC co-supported development projects in Gazipur and Narsingdi districts. The embassy said Switzerland is a ‘committed and long standing development partner of Bangladesh’. Under its current cooperation strategy, Switzerland is providing development assistance to Bangladesh in several key areas such as income and economic development, democratic governance and safer migration.