BRUSSELS, 02 June 2022, (TON): High Representative/Vice-President Josep Borrell will travel to Jordan from 2 to 4 June.

On 2 June, he will co-chair with Jordanian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates Ayman Safadi the 14th EU-Jordan Association Council, at the Dead Sea.

The Foreign Affairs Ministers of some EU Member States will participate in the Plenary Session of the Association Council together with Commissioner for Neighbourhood and Enlargement Oliver Várhelyi.

The Association Council will be devoted to EU-Jordan bilateral relations and the implementation of the EU-Jordan Association Agreement.

It will adopt the EU-Jordan Partnership Priorities until 2027, which set out the new common strategic framework in a number of areas, such as regional stability and security; sustainable economic stability, a green, digital and inclusive growth, education, and decent job creation; good governance, the rule of law and respect for human rights.

Jordan will be the first country in the Southern Neighbourhood to sign the new Partnership Priorities with the EU for the next five years.

LONDON, 02 June 2022, (TON): The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, the Right Honourable Brandon Lewis CBE MP, has announced the appointment of eight new Commissioners to the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland.

Maureen Brunt, Siobhan Cullen, Ellen Finlay, Monica Fitzpatrick, Colin Kennedy, John McCallister, Sheena McKinney, and Preeti Yellamaty take up their appointments with effect from 1 June 2022.

The Equality Commission was established in 1999, as part of the implementation of the Good Friday Agreement.

It took over the functions of the Fair Employment Commi-ssion, Equal Opportunities Commission, and Council for Racial Equality and Northern Ireland Disability Council.

The Commission is responsible for policing the Statutory Duty on all public authorities in Northern Ireland to have due regard to the need to promote equality of opportunity across a range of areas.

DHAKA, 02 June 2022, (TON): US ambassador to Bangladesh Peter Haas said “they were concerned about press freedom, especially the Digital Security Act, and several draft laws and regulations that could inhibit press freedom in Bangladesh.”

He said while responding to questions “we are concerned about human rights abuses, including extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances.”

He said “when it comes to democracy and human rights, the United States raised their concerns publicly and privately.”

Haas, who has been in Bangladesh as US ambassador for about three months, said that the US wanted the RAB to be held accountable and avoid potential human rights abuses and efforts to make sure that those abuses do not happen again in the future.

DHAKA, 02 June 2022, (TON): Prime minister Sheikh Hasina said “Bangladesh has constructed the Padma Bridge with own financing as her government had taken this challenge to brighten image of the country.”

She said while speaking at a meeting of Awami League Advisory Council “we’ve done it by the grace of Allah. InshaAllah, we will inaugurate the Padma Bridge on June 25.”

The meeting was held at her official residence Ganabhaban.

Sheikh Hasina said “it hurts her heart when any slander is hurled against the country and that is why she had taken the challenge to build the much-cherished Padma Bridge with own funds when World Bank went away from financing the project for alleged corruption.”

Mentioning that honesty has a different type of power, she said, ‘I’ve taken this challenge with that power of honest, and I have got the whole hearted support of the country’s people. For this reason, I have been able to construct the Padma Bridge.”

The prime minister said “a Canadian court declared all the allegations regarding this project false and baseless.”

KABUL, 02 June 2022, (TON): Kazakhstan’s delegation was headed by the Deputy Chief of Presidential Staff Kazakhstan, Special Representative of the President for International Cooperation, Erzhan Kazykhan.

EU Special Envoy for Afghanistan Tomas Niklasson, Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Afghanistan and Head of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan Deborah Lyons, and EU Special Representative for Central Asia Terhi Hakala also attended the conference.

Conference participants reaffirmed their shared aspirations for a peaceful, stable, and prosperous Afghanistan.

They discussed in detail national contributions to humanitarian support for Afghanistan and considered proposals for joint implementation of bilateral and regional programs.

Addressing the conference, Kazykhan spoke about Kazakhstan’s position on the stabilization of the situation in Afghanistan and made specific proposals for strengthening security and sustainable development in the region in cooperation with the EU.

DHAKA, 02 June 2022, (TON): The Chittagong Bay Terminal, a long-awaited project of the Chittagong Port Authority, has gained momentum with the appointment of two Korean consulting firms to prepare a detailed design and supervise construction.

According to the Shipping Ministry “the Korean firms Kunhwa Engineering and Consulting Company Limited and Dian Yang Construction and Engineering Company Limited are expected to submit the detailed design within three months.”

The government aims to start construction by January next year.

The CPA signed a deal with the Korean firms on the Bay Terminal project in Dhaka.

DHAKA, 02 June 2022, (TON): Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen wondered why Bangladeshi journalists don't question the US Ambassador on human rights situation and state of democracy in the USA.

Momen in a message said "would you please ask the US Ambassador why they can't stop extrajudicial killings in their own country?"

The message comes a day after the US Ambassador to Bangladesh Peter Haas spoke on the US priorities of human rights, democracy and media freedom and said that they want free and fair elections in Bangladesh.

Momen said “each year nearly 100,000 US citizens go missing in the country and immigrant children are separated from their parents.

"Ask USA about their issues and not about Bangladesh. USA is not obligated to govern and help improve our country."

DHAKA, 02 June 2022, (TON): The Mitali Express on the Dhaka–New Jalpaiguri route via Chilahati in Nilphamari in Bangladesh and Haldibari in India began its journey on Wednesday after a gap of 57 years.

The express train, third passenger train between Bangladesh and India, started its journey from New Jalpaiguri at about 9:30am on the day and reached Dhaka cantonment station at about 10:55pm on the same day with 18 passengers.

The train service was jointly inaugurated in New Delhi at Rail Bhavan under the Indian Railways virtually around 10:00am in the presence of Bangladesh’s railways minister Nurul Islam Sujan and the India’s railways minister Ashwini Vaishnaw.

Bangladesh Railway’s west zone general manager Asim Kumar Talukder said “the train communications on this route came to an end following the India-Pakistan war in 1965.”

By Saneem Afshain

The people having disabilities are being excluded from birth and national registration in Nepal. As these disabled persons experiencing disgrace and are being not listed in the national registration processes for voting and participating in the national politics of Nepal.

The right to vote is a fundamental human right of everybody and is an essential inhaling process in the democratic setup. It is also in line with the worldwide, equal, free, and clandestine voting principles to form an integral part of the fundamental right of persons with disabilities to vote. However, persons with disabilities, especially those who are blind have been prevented from gaining access to polling places in Nepal which is a sheer violation of their fundamental human rights.

At the moment. Nepal is a signatory to several international human rights documents including the Agreement on the committee of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), still, the Policymakers of Nepal are not ready to address disability issues at the earliest practical to change such a wrong mindset.

Article 18 of clause (2) of Nepal's Constitution 2015 states that there shall be no discrimination against anyone, including those with disability. The Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act 2017 Section 11 also states that persons with disability should be treated on an equal basis as other persons, shall have the right to contest the election in a courageous atmosphere, and have the right to cast votes voluntarily with free of any pressure.

However, the government is incapable to act on this lawful plan which is necessary to allow persons with incapacities their right to cast the vote. The global law agenda pursues to safeguard that person with infirmities to enjoy the same rights as fit people.

Disabled people frequently experience social, legal, and, most importantly, practical barriers to exercising their voting rights. Nepal’s election laws regarding assistance to vote say that voters with disabilities may be accompanied by the polling officer, or a close family member allowed by the polling officer to cast their votes.

There must be a separate line available for voters with disability or illnesses, the elderly, pregnant women, and new mothers. Despite the elaborate provisions on including persons with disabilities in political and public life in Nepal, political participation by persons with disabilities remains minimal.

The barriers to their participation are also concerning public transport remains mainly unapproachable to them due to the design of public service vehicles and the approach of the operators.

Many persons with disabilities, therefore in Nepal avoid activities including voting and participating in political rallies. The attitude towards persons with disabilities remains a major hindrance to their equal and full participation in society. Some persons with disabilities also suffer shame in voter identification and national registration processes during the identification process.

This disgrace causes them to choose between national registration and voting registration exercises. Informational and communication barriers: This occurs when the method of sharing information is not accessible.

The election laws refer to persons with disabilities and psychosocial disabilities as being of an unsound mind, confining their right to vote as preserved in the international human rights instruments. During the 2017 provincial and federal elections of Nepal, it has been found that the votes of disabled people, specifically those having an intellectual and psychosocial disability and visual impairment, were misused.

It has been measured that even the nomination fees presented by the Election Commission are not in the reach of most persons with disabilities. As a State Party to the committee of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), Nepal must first, hold seminars, and workshops for disability rights activists to guide them with national and international frameworks that protect their rights.

It is also necessary to provide Braille or audio guides for persons with visual disabilities. There should be a set-up for them to cast their vote on the ground floor to make polling booths accessible for wheelchair users. It is also the duty of the Disabled Persons' Organizations (DPOs) to train persons with disabilities to serve as election interests in Nepal.

By Erlina Premadani

The 2022 Spring Meetings of the IMF and World Bank were held on 18-24 April 2022 in Washington D.C. In the meeting, IMF Managing Director Kistalina Georgieva and other senior members of IMF management met with a delegation from Sri Lanka led by Finance Minister, Ali Sabry and Central Bank of Sri Lanka, Governor Nandalal Weerasinghe. These meetings aimed at discussing an early technical program to address an economic challenge.

During the meetings on 18-22 April 2022, the delegation and the IMF team discussed the authorities’ request for an IMF-supported program. The discussion included the recent economic and financial development, the need of implementing a credible strategy to restore macroeconomic stability, and the importance of stronger social safety nets to mitigate the impact of the economic crisis in Sri Lanka.

It was stated by the IMF team that in the future, IMF will support Sri Lanka to overcome the economic crisis by collaborating with the authorities and with all other stakeholders. The recent condition in Sri Lanka was a severe balance of payment and the shortage of fuel and power impacted the economic activities. And also the global food and oil prices rise steadily added to the balance of payments pressures.

There are many factors behind the inflation happened, they are the shortages of goods, fuel price increases, and currency depreciation. This current condition impacts many aspects of Sri Lanka, especially the poor and vulnerable group. Therefore, the IMF which was previously asked for help by the government of Sri Lanka takes an action toward the economic crisis in this nation.

The IMF team assesses the economic situation and identifies policy priorities to take ahead. The discussion focused on restoring fiscal sustainability, protecting the poor and vulnerable groups, ensuring the credibility of the monetary policy and exchange rate regimes, strengthening the financial sectors, and developing structural reformation to strengthen the governance.

IMF has determined that Sri Lanka’s debt is unsustainable and cannot be simply repaid with macroeconomic adjustments. Sri Lanka has raised rates and banks have reduced the credit to stabilize the exchange rate. However, the national currency has fallen due to a surrender requirement. The monetary stability in Sri Lanka happened since 1950 and the general strike faced in 1953 pushed up inflation, reserve losses, and exchange control from 1952.

Therefore, a financial and legal advisor has been appointed by the IMF team to engage in dialogue with the creditors as a significant step toward the debt problem. There would require adequate assurances for the unsustainable debts to be restored.

The IMF team will also continue to monitor the economic and political situation closely and engage with the authorities to formulate concrete measures under the IMF-supported program. The economic and political situation in Sri Lanka needs to be overseen since the crisis impacts the citizens’ belief toward the governance. It would require concrete steps to take by the IMF and the authorities. Fortunately, the IMF reaffirmed a commitment to support Sri Lanka at this difficult time by executing the policies.

It was projected by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe that Sri Lanka is one of the few nations which is expected to go without food due to the global food shortage this year. This would be such a climax of the economic crisis in this nation. Therefore, it is a warning for Srilanka to prepare for the food shortage and cultivate food crops on abandoned land. There are many lands belonging to the railway’s Department neglected that can be used to grow food. Dealing with this possibility, Prime Minister will talk to the World Bank to get some assistance.

Another solution resulting from the technical discussion was about giving a stronger safety net to the citizens. The IMF team should help the government to restore the public trust. Since dealing with the economic crisis, the major people in Sri Lanka become skeptical of the government. They should be convinced that the situation would be better with the presence of IMF and World Bank.

Therefore, it is needed a concrete step to monitor the political situation in Sri Lanka. Since the political aspect might influence the public trust in government during the worst economic crisis. The IMF could engage with the government and other stakeholders to discuss the monitoring steps. Without concrete actions, monitoring the political situation is just not enough. The government would need a support system from the citizens in overcoming the current problem.

If the government could be trusted again, it would be easier to create a concrete strategy of macroeconomic stability. People need at least to understand that the government is responsible for the current situation. And they have worked hard to deal with the problem by asking for assistance from IMF and World Bank. Thus, the Sri Lankan people could closely cooperate with the government and other stakeholders, such as not creating any chaos or riot even if the situation is getting worse.