Dhaka: UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon arrived here on Sunday evening on a three-day visit as part of his three-nation tour that will also take him to Thailand and Indonesia.
Bangladesh State Minister for Women and Children Affairs Shirin Sharmin Chowdhury received him at Shahjalal International Airport at 8 p.m. (local time), reported a news agency. Ban`s visit is to showcase the progress of these countries in advancing women and children`s health in the context of the "Every Woman Every Child" effort he initiated in 2010, a United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) release said.
In Bangladesh, the secretary general will visit a community clinic in the north-east region of Moulvibazar district, where community health workers are being trained in a government-led project to increase the number of women who give birth with a skilled birth attendant.
Ban will also visit a joint project of the government and the non-governmental organization BRAC, which illustrates how to empower women through microfinance impacts the health of their communities.
In Dhaka, Ban jointly with Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will address a Climate Vulnerable Forum meeting on Monday. The secretary general will also pay tribute to the contribution of Bangladesh to UN peacekeeping efforts by visiting the Bangladesh Institute of Peace Support Operation Training. He will also meet the families of those peacekeepers who perished in the line of duty.
Ban will leave for Bangkok on Wednesday morning.
IANS