Foreign Affairs Adviser Md Touhid Hossain spoke to reporters at a regular briefing at the foreign ministry today. Photo: MoFA

DHAKA, July 3, 2025 (BSS) – The United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) is set to establish a mission branch in Bangladesh, which is currently under draft discussion, Foreign Affairs Adviser Md Touhid Hossain said today.

“It is still at the draft stage,” he told reporters at the foreign ministry here this afternoon when asked under what conditions the OHCHR office would be established in Dhaka.  

Hossain added, “Once the draft exchange is complete and we reach a final agreed draft where not even a word needs to be changed, we will sign it. At that point, we will be able to share the details with you. Until then, it is better not to discuss it while it remains in draft form.”

The adviser informed that Bangladesh and OHCHR have exchanged the draft with revisions four times, and the draft is currently under review at the OHCHR end following the latest changes made by Dhaka.

Hossain noted that Bangladesh and OHCHR have, in principle, agreed to establish the office in Dhaka for three years, with a review scheduled after two years.

The plan to open an OHCHR mission branch in Bangladesh recently received policy-level approval at a meeting of the Advisory Council.

Meanwhile, responding to a question on the proposed name for the next UN Resident Coordinator in Bangladesh, Hossain said, “We will need to provide the agrément (official consent). We have not yet processed the agrément. Let the process proceed, and then we will respond.”

Currently, Gwen Lewis serves as the UN Resident Coordinator in Dhaka.