Australia's Foreign Minister and Minister for Women, Marise Payne, will travel to Bangladesh from 3rd to 5th September to meet with Bangladesh Government leaders and attend a ministerial meeting of the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA).
Ms Payne will travel to Cox’s Bazar, where more than 900,000 displaced Rohingya are living in refugee camps in need of humanitarian assistance.
Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs and Women Senator Marise Payne during AUSMIN, August 4, 2019. Source: AAP
In a statement, the minister said that Australia has been a leading provider of humanitarian assistance, "including counselling and medical services to women and girls who have experienced violence, the supply of food and nutrition – particularly for children under five and breastfeeding women – and clean water, shelter and primary healthcare."
It's the first visit to Bangladesh by an Australian Foreign Minister since 1998 and the first by a Cabinet Minister since 2006.
At the IORA Blue Economy Ministerial Conference, she will highlight strategies for creating environmentally sustainable marine-based industries including fishing, aquaculture, tourism, shipping, oil and gas.
Ms Payne will announce the establishment of the IORA Blue Carbon Hub, "an Australian initiative located at the University of Western Australia in Perth and managed by CSIRO.
"The Hub aims to promote the health of blue carbon ecosystems - mangroves, tidal marshes and seagrasses - to promote coastal protection, food security and sustainable livelihoods."
Australia FM Marise Payne, with Foreign Minister of Bangladesh Abdul Momen, at ASEAN, Aug 2, 2019. Source: AP
