The United Nations will provide electoral assistance to Bangladesh during next general election, if requested, says the UN envoy here.
Mia Seppo, the UN Resident Coordinator in Bangladesh, made it clear that unless there be request from Bangladesh, the global body would not be involved with the electoral support.
"The UN does not just step in on its own," she said while responding to questions in her interaction with diplomatic correspondents during 'DCAB talks' in Dhaka.
The Diplomatic Corres-pondents' Association of Bangladesh or DCAB organised the talk -- incidentally at a time when there have been political exchanges over the next polls.
A UN special emissary had played the role of go-between to end a serious government-opposition standoff -- punctuated with street violence -- over the 2014 polls. But the talks ended in disagreements, and the election got through amid main opposition boycott.
Regarding UN involvement with temporary Rohingya rehabilitation in Bhasanchar island she said that both the government and the UN were ready to sign an agreement on this score.
She categorically said that the agreement would be signed soon, and thereafter, the UN would start work to provide humanitarian assistance to the Rohingya refugees there.
But, she mentioned, the type of the support in the island would be different from that in Cox's Bazar as the situation in the backwater habitat is not same as in the seafront district (Cox's Bazar).
She noted that resolution of the Rohingya crisis is linked to global politics and divisions in the UN Security Council over the issue made things complicated.
Ms Sappo mentioned that the UN is in discussion with the government on the Digital Security Act (DSA) to ensure that the law is compliant with the global human-rights standards.
She told the media meet that the UN does have concern over some human-rights issues related to violence against women and the shrinking of civic space here.
But she hastened to add that many countries in the world have similar situation.
DCAB President Pantho Rahman chaired the programme, which was moderated by AKM Moinuddin, general secretary of the organisation.
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