​TİKA’s Projects in Various Sectors Put into Service in Bangladesh

The Vice President of Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TİKA), Dr. Ümit Naci Yorulmaz, who visited Bangladesh, attended the inauguration ceremony of various projects, investigated the Rohingya refugee camps and made official visits.

TİKA’s Vice President, Dr. Ümit Naci Yorulmaz, made a 1-week working visit to Bangladesh to inaugurate the completed projects, conduct an investigation in the Rohingya refugee camps and make official visits.

Multi-Purpose Education and Culture Center

Yorulmaz inaugurated the Multi-Purpose Education and Culture Center built by TİKA for Rohingya Muslims who took refuge in the east of Cox’s Bazar city of Bangladesh because of violence that took place in Myanmar in 2017.

In the Multi-Purpose Education and Culture Center, there are tailoring, embroidery, handcraft, and bamboo craft training classes for women and a sales store of crafted products; bamboo, metal and wood craft and electrical appliance repair training classes for men and a sales store of created products; a seminar hall, an indoor playground and 2 libraries for children and young people.

The center is considered an important place to preserve the cultural heritage of Rohingya Muslims and to let these people, who have been hosted in refugee camps for 6 years, continue their already limited social activities.

After the opening ceremony, a meeting was held at the Office of the Refugee Relief and Repatriation Commissioner, which has authority in the region on behalf of the Bangladesh government. Information on the activities of the Bangladeshi state and the international organizations in the camps in Cox's Bazar and on Bhasan Char Island were given.

Marine Ambulance from TİKA to Bangladesh

The delivery ceremony of the marine ambulance, provided and medically equipped by TİKA, was held on the bank of the Shitalakshya river in Dhaka.

TİKA’s Vice President, Yorulmaz; Türkiye’s Ambassador to Dhaka, Ramis Şen; Secretary of the Ministry of Disaster Management and Relief, Kamrul Hasan; Refugee Relief and Repatriation Commissioner (RRRC), Mizanur Rahman and Ministry officials attended to the delivery ceremony of the marine ambulance which will serve between the mainland and Bhasan Char Island where Rohingya Muslims are settled.

The marine ambulance provided by TİKA, which is a first for Rohingya refugees, is expected to significantly alleviate the burden of healthcare services in crisis areas.

TİKA’s activities to improve the living conditions on Bhasan Char Island

Yorulmaz conducted investigations on Bhasan Char Island, where the Rohingya refugees were settled, upon the decision of the Bangladesh government to offer them better living conditions and eliminate security problems.

Yorulmaz visited the garden, built by TİKA to develop agricultural and livestock projects on the island and to include the surplus labor force in production, where 11 different types of vegetables are planted, and visited the first cattle barn on the island and attended the opening ceremony of the poultry project carried out by TİKA. Yorulmaz held a meeting with the Bangladesh Deputy Refugee Relief and Repatriation Commissioner, responsible for the administration on the island, and also held consultations on future collaboration opportunities.

Osman Mia Merchant Mother and Child Hospital, which was equipped by TİKA in the city of Sylhet in Bangladesh was put into service

The opening ceremony was held in Sylhet, a city situated 200 kilometers away from Dhaka, the capital of the country. The opening ceremony of the hospital, built by the Municipality of Sylhet to address the healthcare needs of 700,000 people living in the city center and equipped by TİKA with medical devices such as an anesthetic machine, x-ray machine, biochemistry analyzer, cell counter, ultrasound machine, EKG machine, operating table and surgical lights, was attended by TİKA’s Vice President, Yorulmaz; Mayor of Sylhet, Ariful Haque Choudhury; officials from Sylhet Provincial Health Directorate and hospital authorities.

In his speech, Yorulmaz presented examples of the activities TİKA conducted in all regions of Bangladesh. Yorulmaz noted that the development cooperations that TİKA has been carrying out in the country since 2014 made significant contributions to the friendship between Türkiye and Bangladesh.

TİKA Established a Greenhouse for Tissue Culture Laboratory in Bangladesh

The opening ceremony of the tissue culture greenhouse established by TİKA in the city of Bogura in Bangladesh was held.

The opening ceremony of the tissue culture greenhouse, established in collaboration with Thengamara Mohila Sabuj Sangha (TMSS), one of the largest NGOs in the country, was attended by TİKA’s Vice President, Yorulmaz; TMSS Executive Director, Prof. Hosne-Ara Begüm; TMSS Deputy Executive Director, Matiur Rahman and NGO officials.

At the meeting held after the opening ceremony, Yorulmaz said: “With this project, we carried out as TİKA for the friendship and cooperation between Türkiye and Bangladesh, we have added a new one to the projects on reinforcing women’s role in society and on food and agriculture security, whose importance increases day by day worldwide. We contributed to our project partner TMSS’s plan to provide healthy seeds and plants at affordable prices, especially to women farmers, by producing plantlets from potato, cotton, pineapple and banana plants in the first stage. Within this scope, we built a greenhouse and made advanced agricultural techniques applicable by providing an irrigation control system, water tank, water pump, heating & cooling system, humidity controller, carbon dioxide generator and greenhouse shading.”

A Mushroom Garden for the Benefit of Orphan Girls in Chittagong

Yorulmaz, with Türkiye’s Honorary Consul to Chittagong, Selahaddin Kasım Han, inaugurated the mushroom production garden established by TİKA.

The high-quality mushrooms, produced with necessary technical equipment and thanks to the project delivered to Balika Sadan Girls’ Orphanage in order to contribute to the students' nutrition, are sold, and the income is spent to improve these students’ education opportunities.

TİKA’s Mobile Clinic Will Provide Service in Bangladesh’s Regions with Limited Transportation Facilities

The mobile clinic, provided by TİKA, was delivered to Amader Somoyer Pratiddhani Foundation (Light of Our Era Foundation) with a ceremony attended by Türkiye’s Ambassador to Dhaka, Şen and TİKA’s Vice President, Yorulmaz.

The Mobile Clinic will provide service in the most vital areas, such as clinical examination and diagnosis, medicine dispensation, blood tests, pregnancy tests, children's health, elderly health and contagious diseases.

Meeting with Masud Bin Momen, Bangladesh Ministry of Foreign Affairs Undersecretary

TİKA’s Vice President, Yorulmaz; Türkiye’s Ambassador to Dhaka, Şen and TİKA’s Bangladesh delegation met with Bangladesh Ministry of Foreign Affairs Undersecretary, Masud Bin Momen at the state guesthouse in the capital Dhaka.

The undersecretary of the Ministry stated that he follows TİKA’s activities and that they, as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, will always support them in developing positive relations between Türkiye and Bangladesh. He also expressed his contentment with the activities that TİKA conducts in different regions of Bangladesh. He also asserted that they especially want to benefit from Türkiye’s experiences with earthquakes and disasters and that the training for experts is crucial for Bangladesh.

Yorulmaz, who gave information on TİKA’s activities in general, thanked Bangladesh for showing solidarity after the February 6 earthquakes and underlined that they will continue to support Bangladesh by giving information on his travel program.

The New Service Building of TİKA Dhaka Program Coordination Office Was Inaugurated

TİKA’s Vice President Yorulmaz, who first visited Mustafa Kemal Atatürk Park located on Mustafa Kemal Avenue in Dhaka, inaugurated the new service building of TİKA Dhaka Program Coordination Office with the participation of Türkiye’s Ambassador to Dhaka, Şen; the partner organizations operating in Bangladesh and Turkish and Bangladeshi citizens.

Dhaka Program Coordination Office, which was opened to coordinate TİKA’s projects for Bangladesh, the Maldives, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Bhutan, was put into service in 2014. More than 200 development cooperation projects have been carried out across Bangladesh so far and handed over to local stakeholders.

TİKA has been carrying out activities across Bangladesh to build and equip health centers in regions, where the access to healthcare service is limited, to solve water problems of families living in rural areas, to support scientific and technological infrastructure, to preserve cultural elements and to improve the infrastructure of administrative units.

TİKA, which has been in cooperation with Bangladeshi authorities on the Rohingya Crisis since the first days, has been carrying out projects on education, health, agriculture and especially on emergency humanitarian aid in the refugee camps since 2017.