DHAKA, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- Ambassador Rabab Fatima, Bangladesh's permanent representative to the United Nations, has been unanimously elected as the president of the UNICEF Executive Board, Bangladesh's Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday.
The elections were held at the UN Headquarters in New York.
With this election, Bangladesh will be able to contribute further to the work of the United Nations, this time in providing strategic guidance to its agency specializing in the children's causes, the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
It said Permanent Representatives of Lithuania and Morocco, and Deputy Permanent Representatives of Brazil and Switzerland were elected as the vice-presidents in the elections.
Bangladesh was earlier elected to the executive board for the term 2019-2021 representing the group of Asia-Pacific countries.
Ambassador Fatima recently joined as the Permanent Representative of Bangladesh to the United Nations in New York.
She succeeded Ambassador Masud Bin Momen as Bangladesh's permanent representative who served as the vice president of UNICEF Executive Board in 2019.
In her acceptance speech, Fatima thanked the Board members for electing her, and for their confidence in Bangladesh's leadership to address the challenges that continue to affect children across the globe, and for meaningful and impactful 2020 for UNICEF.
She assured UNICEF that the new executive board will work hard to bring new ideas to uplift the wellbeing of children and fight for their rights.
UNICEF Executive Director Henrietta H. Fore welcomed the new president and said that UNICEF looked forward to benefiting from her experience and wisdom.
