New WB country director for Bangladesh starts Monday
Mercy Miyang Tembon had served as the country director for the South Caucasus region
The new World Bank country director for Bangladesh and Bhutan, Mercy Miyang Tembon, is set to formally assume her duties from Monday.
The international financial institution issued a press release making the announcement on Sunday, adding that Tembon has deep knowledge of bank operations, a track record in promoting economic growth and social development in several countries.
Prior to taking this assignment, Tembon served as the country director for the South Caucasus (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia) in the Europe and Central Asia region. She also served as World Bank country manager for Burundi as well as for Burkina Faso in Africa.
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A Cameroonian national, Tembon joined the organisation in 2000 as an Education Specialist and has since held leadership positions in different countries. She has a reputation for developing strong partnerships with stakeholders.
In the press release, Tembon was quoted as saying: “Bangladesh has tremendous development experience to share with the world, as it has cut extreme poverty in half in record time and is among the few developing countries to achieve gender parity in school enrollment.
“I have been following the country’s remarkable progress over the years and I look forward to working closely with the government and people of Bangladesh to address remaining challenges.”
She added that the World Bank remains a committed partner to support Bangladesh to attain its vision of upper middle-income country status.
Tembon holds a PhD in Economics of Education from the University of London, England. Prior to joining the World Bank, she was a research officer at the Institute of Development Studies at the University of Sussex in the UK.
She has authored several publications on education, gender and economic growth issues.
In her role as the World Bank Country Director for Bangladesh and Bhutan, Tembon will lead the implementation of the World Bank Group’s Country Partnership Framework in support of the development priorities of both countries.
Tembon will also lead the policy dialogue with government counterparts, civil society and other stakeholders to achieve country development goals.
The World Bank was among the first development partners to support Bangladesh following its independence, and has committed over $30 billion, mostly in grants and interest-free credits, to Bangladesh since then.
Currently, Bangladesh has the largest IDA programme of World Bank totaling $12.6 billion.
