World Bank Vice President for the South Asia Region Hartwig Schafer will arrive in Dhaka on Monday for talks on the Rohingya crisis and deepening Bangladesh’s connections to the international organisation.
Monday’s visit is the first since Schafer took up the post in July.
“Bangladesh has a remarkable story of cutting extreme poverty to half in record time. Other countries can learn from Bangladesh’s many development innovations and successes. I look forward to meet our partners and see first-hand the country’s journey to economic growth,” said Schafer.
“Despite its own challenges, Bangladesh has shown great generosity by sheltering nearly one million Rohingya people. The World Bank is working closely with the government to help address the needs of the Rohingya until their safe return to Myanmar and help build the country’s capacity to deal with the crisis.”
Schafer plans to visit the Rohingya refugee camps and meet with local officials and representatives from NGOs and civil society during a visit to Cox’s Bazar.
The World Bank has given Bangladesh a $400 million grant to help with the crisis.
It has also approved one of two operations – adding up to $75 million – to provide health services and education to the refugees.
Schafer is also scheduled to meet with government officials, including the finance minister and water resources minister, as well as private sector and civil society leaders.
He will also take part in the launch of a World Bank report titled ‘South Asia’s Hotspots: The Impact of Temperature and Precipitation Changes on Living Standards and visit the World Bank-supported Ghorashal power station project.
Prior to joining the South Asia region, Schafer was the vice president for global themes and as vice president for operations policy and country services and also served as World Bank’s country director for Djibouti, Egypt, and Yemen.
