Business Desk:
A high-level meeting was held on Sunday (26 April 2026) at the UN House Bangladesh between Ms. Lisa Doughten, Director of the Financing and Outreach Division (FOD) of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UN OCHA), and the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI), focusing on strengthening collaboration to mobilize and coordinate private sector contributions to humanitarian response in Bangladesh.
During the discussion, it was noted that Bangladesh and Myanmar remain priority countries for OCHA in Asia. OCHA continues to play a central role in managing key global humanitarian coordination mechanisms, including the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF), Country-Based Pooled Funds, and Humanitarian Response Plans (HRPs), ensuring timely, needs-based, and principled humanitarian action.
The meeting also highlighted FBCCI’s inclusion as the 22nd member of the Connecting Business Initiative (CBI), a joint platform of OCHA and UNDP that promotes structured engagement with the private sector before, during, and after emergencies.
Participants reviewed the ongoing contributions of FBCCI members in emergency response and resilience-building initiatives across Bangladesh, emphasizing the importance of stronger alignment between private sector capacities and national disaster management systems. Key strengths such as logistics, supply chains, financing, and technology were identified as critical enablers for a more coordinated and effective response.
The discussion further explored opportunities for structured collaboration between FBCCI and OCHA. These include capacity-building initiatives on humanitarian coordination—such as joint training on humanitarian architecture, coordination systems, and core principles; development of a joint pilot private sector emergency coordination model covering rapid response, resource mobilization, and business continuity; and integration of FBCCI Safety Council into national and global coordination platforms, including cluster systems and inter-agency mechanisms.
Both sides also recognized the importance of promoting gender-responsive and inclusive approaches, including support for dignity needs, women-led enterprise recovery, and MSME resilience. In addition, the meeting considered the potential to establish a dedicated private sector humanitarian coordination platform under the FBCCI Safety Council, supported by catalytic inputs for coordination, joint planning, and initial operational setup.
The OCHA delegation included Lisa Doughten, Director, Financing and Outreach Division; Ms. Sanjana Quazi, Chief of Section, Humanitarian Affairs at OCHA Headquarters (New York); Ms. Wendy Cue, Head of Office at the OCHA Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific; Mr. Daniel Gilman, Humanitarian Affairs Officer; and Ms. Nisha Manjooran, Humanitarian Affairs Officer at OCHA Geneva.
Private Sector was represented by former FBCCI director Mr. Abdul Haque, Ms. Nasreen Fatema Awal, MCCI President Kamran T. Rahman, Chairman of PRAN-RFL Group Mr. Ahsan Khan Chowdhury, President of Bangladesh CNG Machineries Importers Association Mr. Zakir Hossain Nayon,
FBCCI Secretary General Md. Alamgir, Head of FBCCI International Affairs Wing Md. Zafar Iqbal ndc, Advisor to the FBCCI Safety Council Brig. Gen. (Retd.) Abu Nayeem Md. Shahidullah and others.
The meeting concluded with a shared recognition that these initiatives represent practical opportunities for structured collaboration, through which FBCCI—particularly its Safety Council—can complement OCHA’s coordination mandate. Both sides expressed commitment to advancing a scalable and inclusive model of private sector–humanitarian partnership in Bangladesh, with potential relevance at the global level.
