DHAKA, June 23, 2020 (BSS) – International Public Service Day is being observed today nationwide amid the glorious achievement of winning the United Nations (UN) award by the Bangladesh Ministry of Land.
Bangladesh Land Ministry has, for the first time, received the prestigious UN Public Service Award-2020 (UNPSA 2020) in the category of ‘Developing Transparent and Accountable Public’ for the successful implementation of the globally appreciated e-Mutation programme, according to a press release.
It is a matter of great pride for the country, the release added
Winning the UN award boosts morale and increases the commitment of all working in the Land Ministry and its offices and agencies and everyone is now firmly resolved to provide better land services.
The UN-declared ‘United Nations Public Service Day’ is celebrated in Bangladesh as ‘International Public Service Day’ every year on 23rd June.
Land Minister Saifuzzaman Chowdhury, MP, mentioned the Land Ministry’s winning of ‘United Nations Public Service Award-2020’ as a joint and unanimous achievement of the country and the nation under the leadership of the Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
“After receiving the UN award, we have to take all possible measures to keep up the recognition as our responsibility has increased,” he said.
The land minister made these remarks at a virtual press conference organized by the land ministry on Wednesday, June 10, 2020, the release said.
The Ministry of Land has undertaken the task of transforming all land services into digital services to execute the vision 2021 and 2041 of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
Implementation of this complex project has been possible at the far-flung corners of the country due to the expansion of fiber optic cable up to the Upazila or Union level and the availability of high speed internet – under the leadership of the ICT Affairs Adviser to the Prime Minister Sajeeb Wazed.
E-Mutation has been accomplished all over the country except three hill districts under the leadership of Land Minister Saifuzzaman Chowdhury, MP, and the supervision of Land Secretary Md. Muksodur Rahman Patwary from July 2019.
The a2i project of the ICT Division has been providing technical assistance in this work.
The e-Mutation is being implemented through the Assistant Commissioner (Land) under the management of the Land Reform Board.
The United Nations Public Service Award is the highest global accolade for excellence in public service to institutions that contribute to a more effective and responsive public administration and that advance progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs officially informed the Ministry of Land about the UN award-winning, on June 5, 2020, citing a letter from UN Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs Liu Zhenmin to Permanent Representative of Bangladesh to the United Nations Ambassador Rabab Fatima.
Then, on June 16, 2020, the United Nations officially announced the names of seven institutions or initiatives from the seven winning countries.
The United Nations will virtually celebrate United Nations Public Service Day today at 7 pm Bangladesh time (9 am USA EST time).
This year’s order of the day is ‘ON THE FRONTLINES: Honouring public servants in the COVID-19 pandemic response’.
The United Nations presents the United Nations Public Service Award in seven categories each year. The programme can be viewed live at http://webtv.un.org.
As the world continues to be impacted by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, plans to host a 2020 United Nations Public Service Awards Ceremony in the Busan, South Korea has been postponed until further notice. So, a virtual program is going to take place this time instead.
The United Nations is doing numerous outreach activities to showcase the innovative works online, including over United Nations social media channels, which the UN is following up about in due course.