Foreign Minister Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali in a letter to British Foreign Secretary William Hague conveyed the decision, the foreign ministry said on Sunday.
The British Foreign Secretary and UN Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict jointly launched the “Global Declaration of Commitment to End Sexual Violence in Conflict” in September last year at the 68th UN General Assembly in New York.
Bangladesh is the 123rd country to have supported the declaration.
The Declaration contains a set of “practical and political commitments” to end the use of rape and sexual violence as a weapon of war, which terrorizes and destroys communities during conflict.
The minister in the letter reaffirmed Bangladesh's commitment to denounce sexual violence during armed conflict in “unequivocal terms” and mentioned relentless efforts to support global initiatives to end sexual violence in conflicts.
The foreign ministry said Bangladesh's joining was also a manifestation of “national commitment” to redress the most heinous forms of sexual violence including rape, enslavement and forced pregnancies and other forms of injustice inflicted upon more than 200000 Bengalee women during Bangladesh's Liberation War of 1971.
Bangladesh was the first South Asian country to have brought the issue of ‘sexual violence and women peace and security' before the UN Security Council in 2000, as a non-permanent member of the Council.
It was instrumental in the adoption of UNSC resolution 1325.
Bangladesh is now expecting to participate at a high-level global summit on this issue on June 10-13 in the UK, the ministry added.
