Bangladesh has won the UN Public Service Award 2020, one of the most prestigious recognition of excellence in the delivery of public services.

The Ministry of Land of Bangladesh has received the award in the category of "Developing transparent and accountable public institutions" for the initiative "e-Mutation", the foreign ministry said in a statement today.

"It is an outstanding achievement for an initiative that demonstrated excellence in serving the public interest,' says Liu Zhenmin, the UN Under-Secretary-General (USG) for Economic and Social Affairs while conveying this decision in a letter to the Permanent Representative of Bangladesh to UN.

The initiative is a 'significant contribution to the improvement of public administration' in Bangladesh and will serve as an inspiration and encouragement for others working for the public service, the USG continued.

Each year, the United Nations recognizes the most innovative initiatives in the public sector around the world through conferring the Public Service Award.

"Winning the award is a result of Prime Minister's "Digital Bangladesh" initiative. It is also a global recognition of the government's sincere efforts in developing an accountable pro-people public service leaving no one behind," the statement said.

The General Assembly, in its resolution 57/277, designated 23 June as United Nations Public Service Day for the purpose of celebrating the value and virtue of service to the community at the local, national and global levels.

On 23 June each year, the United Nations organizes a ceremony to commemorate the United Nations Public Service Day, during which the most innovative initiatives in the public sector around the world are recognized.

In the context of COVID-19 pandemic, the UN has postponed this year's 'United Nations Public Service Award' giving ceremony.

However, it has a plan to initiate numerous outreach activities to showcase the winning initiatives online, including over UN social media channels, the statement said.

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