Bangladesh accepted the Asian and Pacific Declaration on Population and Development, with certain reservations about issues such as gay rights that are too contentious to be endorsed.
“We could not accept some of the clauses in the declaration and we flagged our reservations. But otherwise, we accepted the declaration,” Foreign Secretary Md Shahidul Haque told the Dhaka Tribune on Saturday.
The declaration was made at the Sixth Asian and Pacific Population Conference (APPC), which concluded in Bangkok on Friday.
The foreign secretary said: “We raised our reservations on all issues related to sexual orientation. We followed the stand we took during the UPR [Universal Periodic Review].”
Bangladesh was however not very well prepared and not a single inter-ministerial meeting was held before the APPC. On the day the conference started, Secretary of Health MM Niazuddin, who was to lead the team for the Senior Officials’ Meeting, left Bangkok.
AK Abdul Momen, Bangladesh’s Permanent Representative to the UN, recently told the Dhaka Tribune that the issues could not be accepted by Bangladesh as “they are against our social norms.”
He said the UNFPA had “tried to sell the idea” of LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) rights, but Bangladesh opposed it. It also does not support matters related to extramarital sex, said Ambassador Momen, and therefore the idea of adopting comprehensive sex education “would not be possible in Bangladesh.”
The foreign secretary said these issues would not be discussed at the 68th UN General Assembly that started on September 17, but would come up next year at the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) meeting.
He said: “The issue will be discussed throughout next year.”
The secretary declined to comment when asked about the UNFPA briefing note for the Bangladesh delegation.
The UNFPA’s note on sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI) suggested that the Bangladeshi delegation should “refrain from voting against any motions in favour of services for LGBT.”
A government official said the lack of preparation and coordination put the team from Bangladesh in an awkward situation at the negotiation table, because UNFPA had covered the team’s expenses.
There was also pressure from the civil society group (CSO), whose representative was part of the delegation, said the official.
In a joint statement CSO said: “We would like to applaud that a majority of the member states reached a strong consensus on a number of key issues that include sexual rights, sexual orientation and gender identities...”
One official with sufficient experience on the subject said though SOGI deals with LGBT rights, but the words “gays or lesbians” are never included in the main text instead “sugar-coated” terms are used.
He cited an example when in 2011 Bangladesh voted against a Human Rights Council resolution that said: “...expressing grave concern at acts of violence and discrimination in all regions of the world [that are] committed against individuals because of their sexual orientation and gender identity.”
He added: “The battle is over but not the war. We have to fight to protect our position throughout the process of negotiation until 2014 and in the years ahead.”
