Bolster efforts to fully implement CHT Peace Accord

The UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (PFII) has called upon Bangladesh to make further efforts towards full implementation of the CHT Peace Accord.

It said that the government uses constructive dialogue and cooperate with the Chattogram Hill Tracts Regional Council, the three Hill District Councils and the Chattogram Hill Tracts Land Dispute Resolution Commission towards this end.

PFII, a functional commission of the Economic and Social Council which is mandated to address issues related to the rights of indigenous people, also welcomed the progress towards the implementation of the CHT Peace Accord.

The observations were made in its report of the 22nd Session held from 17 to 28 April in New York, according to a statement of the Bangladesh Permanent Mission to the UN in NY yesterday.

The members of the forum engaged with the delegation of Bangladesh as well as with a large number of civil society members and individuals belonging to the ethnic minorities throughout the session and discussed the status of CHT Peace Accord.

The statement said Bangladesh is committed to achieving inclusive and sustainable development of all its people including the ethnic minorities, and recognizes the importance of implementing the historic CHT Peace Accord, which was signed in 1997 under the leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

"Implementation of the CHT peace accord is integrally linked to our vision for an inclusive and peaceful Bangladesh. The government's efforts have already brought visible changes in the lives of the ethnic minorities in Bangladesh, which will continue," said Ambassador Muhith, the permanent representative of Bangladesh to the UN, who steered the engagements of the Bangladesh delegation with the Forum.