Australia’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner visits Bangladesh
Mr Mick Gooda in conversation with Ms Hiron Pahani from the Shaotal community and BRAC's Ultra Poor Programme at Shuhasha village in Naogaon district
Australia’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner, Mr Mick Gooda, arrived in Bangladesh on 27 March for a five day visit. Mr Gooda, a descendent of the Aboriginal Gangulu people of Central Queensland, has a long history of working in rural communities in Australia in service delivery, policy and program development in both the public and community sectors.
The aim of his visit is to promote an informative exchange on successful rural community development in both Australia and Bangladesh. Dr Justin Lee, Australia’s High Commissioner to Bangladesh welcomed the high level visit, commenting on the opportunities that it will provide to share development experiences from both countries.
‘Bangladesh has an excellent track record in rural development with many innovative programs leading to successes in the field. Mr Gooda’s visit to various programs being run in communities in the north-west of Bangladesh will provide him with plenty of food for thought when he returns to Australia.
I am also confident that Mr Gooda’s 25 years experience in rural development and service delivery in remote Australian communities will be of interest to the various practitioners he will meet during his stay in Bangladesh’, said Dr Lee.
Mr Gooda will be the Keynote Speaker at a seminar co-hosted by the Australian
High Commission and BRAC on 1 April ‘Access and Equity: Issues and Challenges for Rural Development’ which will bring together practitioners to discuss practical ways of meeting the needs of rural communities through the delivery of strategic and sustainable results in remote and rural environments.
BRAC is one of AusAID’s major development partners in Bangladesh. Australia supports several BRAC initiatives aimed at addressing several Millennium Development Goals including eradicating extreme poverty and hunger, achieving universal primary education, promoting gender equality, reducing child mortality and improving maternal health. Australia has provided approximately AUD54 million to these programs during the period 2007/08-2009/10.
Australian High Commission, Dhaka
29 March 2010
For further information please contact:
Senior Research and Communications Officer, AHC, Dhaka.
Tel: 8813105, E-mail: [email protected]