Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina urged the United Nations to take special and effective measures to stop the Ukraine-Russia war as soon as possible, saying as fast as the war will be ended it will be better for the people. "We are suffering a lot as a result of the war. Inflation has increased, especially due to non-arrival of goods for sanctions. People are suffering a lot because of this war, people are suffering all over the world. The war needs to stop as soon as possible," she said. The Prime Minister made the call during a meeting with UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres at Qatar National Convention Centre (QNCC) Saturday afternoon (local time), as she arrived here in Qatar to attend 5th United Nations Conference on Least Developed Countries (LDC5: From Potential to Prosperity). After the meeting, Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen briefed the newsmen, while Senior Secretary of the foreign ministry Masud Bin Momen was present. Sheikh Hasina said that the UN Secretary General can take special initiative to end the ongoing Ukraine-Russia as soon as possible. She, however, opined that the countries making profit from the war should help other countries to lessen their sufferings. While discussing the Rohingya issue, the Prime Minister urged the UN Secretary General for undertaking special steps so that the Myanmar nationals can return to their homeland. Referring to her government's steps of relocating 30,000 Rohingyas at Bhashan Char, she requested the UN Secretary General to cooperate in shifting more Rohingyas there. Both the Prime Minister and the UN Secretary General agreed that the Rohingyas must go back to Myanmar soon whether there is any change taking place or not in political arena there. During the meeting, Antonio Guterres highly appreciated Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina for her unprecedented successes in development, diplomacy and in tackling Covid pandemic, saying: "The achievements is very much encouraging".  The UN Secretary General said that they are proud of a leadership like Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina who successfully tackled covid-19 situation and advanced Bangladesh further even facing the crisis due to Ukraine war.

A staggering 78 million girls and boys around the world “don’t go to school at all” because of conflict, climate disasters and displacement – while tens of millions more receive only sporadic teaching - UN Secretary-General António Guterres said on Thursday. Lending his support to a call for more funding for education in emergencies spearheaded by the UN global fund Education Cannot Wait (ECW) the UN chief insisted in a video message that no-one should be denied their chance to learn. A full 222 million children experience blighted education today, Mr. Guterres noted. To help them, 18 countries and private partners have pledged $826 million for ECW, on the opening day of the landmark conference. “No matter who you are, no matter where you live, no matter what barriers stand in your way, you have a right to a quality education,” he said, in an appeal for greater international efforts to ensure that more vulnerable children and youngsters get their chance to succeed. Delivering his comments at the Education Cannot Wait High-Level Financing Conference in Geneva, the Secretary-General welcomed the fact that since it was founded in 2017, the fund had trained 87,000 teachers and given seven million children in crisis “the education they deserve”. As pledges from 18 countries and the private sector topped $826 million on the first day of the conference, UN Special Envoy for Global Education and Chair of ECW’s High-Level Steering Group, Gordon Brown, welcomed the international support for learning for all, as an investment in sustainable peace. “We are talking about the most isolated, the most desolate, the most neglected children of the world. We’re talking about girls who find themselves trafficked or forced into child labour or child marriage, unless we can help them,” he continued. Source: UN News

The United Nations (UN) Secretary General António Guterres has highly appreciated the development miracle of Bangladesh under the dynamic and visionary leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. He lauded the Bangladesh Premier and her apt leadership to advance the country with overall development as he had bilateral talks with Sheikh Hasina at Lotte New York Palace in New York on Thursday afternoon (BD time this morning). Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen later briefed the media about the Prime Minister’s scheduled events on the day ahead of her UNGA address today. At the outset of the meeting with Sheikh Hasina, Guterres warmly welcomed her. He said the United Nations gave prominence on the priorities of Bangladesh. “The priorities of Bangladesh are the priorities of the United Nations whether it is climate change or sustainable development goals,” Guterres said. During the talks, Sheikh Hasina urged the UN Secretary General to engage more personnel of Bangladesh armed forces in the higher ranks of the UN peacekeeping mission. Replying to a query about UN Secretary General’s response to the PM's call, the Foreign Minister said Guterres was seen positive to the call as he wanted to do more for Bangladesh.   In this context, he said the UN Secretary General also mentioned that Bangladesh has earned reputation and has a success story in the UN peacekeeping mission. Dr Momen said, “The UN has acknowledged Bangladesh was a ‘role model’ as it was turning into ‘a vibrant economy’”. Guterres has also commended Bangladesh for its leadership in all UN’s achievements, the Foreign Minister said.   The Prime Minister also had meetings with Queen Maxima of the Netherlands, Vietnam President  Nguyễn Xuân Phúc and Maldivian President Ibrahim Mohammad Solih at the UN headquarters. The Netherlands Queen Maxima during a bilateral talk with Sheikh Hasina said, “They are mulling over introducing insurance for checking the loss and damages caused by the natural calamities”. Foreign Secretary Masud Bin Momen, Prime Minister’s Press Secretary Ihsanul Karim and Bangladesh Permanent Representative to the UN Rabab Fatima were present. Speaking about the meeting between Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and Maldivian President Ibrahim Mohammad Solih, Dr Momen said the two countries are working on commercial ship operation between Male and Chattogram. During the meeting with Vietnam President Nguyễn Xuân Phúc , Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina requested him to exert pressure on the Myanmar authorities so that “they take back Rohingyas to their homeland”. Source: BSS AH

Foreign Minister Dr A K Abdul Momen has urged UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres for UN’s initiatives to ensure that the COVID19 vaccine becomes accessible to all, thanking him for declaring inoculation a public good. Dr Momen, who is now visiting US on an official visit, made the call while holding a bilateral meeting with the Secretary General at the UN Headquarters in New York on Thursday, said a press release received in Dhaka today. The Secretary General mentioned his efforts during the recent G-7 summit where he particularly stated about Bangladesh’s capacity to produce vaccines. “The UN has a special relation with Bangladesh”, said Guterres. Referring to the humanitarian gesture of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in providing shelter to the Rohingya, the Secretary General thanked Bangladesh for hosting the displaced Rohingya minorities from Myanmar. “The world will not forget Bangladesh’s generosity in hosting the largest refugee camps of the world”, he added. He also praised Bangladesh’s strong leadership role in all areas of the UN’s activities, especially in peacekeeping, climate change and women empowerment. Thanking Guterres for his continued attention to the Rohingya issue, Bangladesh foreign minister said Secretary General’s personal intervention is now needed more than ever as the political situation in Myanmar had deteriorated. Dr Momen also stated that it is frustrating that many influential countries have enhanced their economic and business relations with Myanmar while publicly decrying the human rights violations there. The foreign minister also briefed the Secretary General about the facilities in Bhashan Char and stressed the importance of UN’s operations there. He said, although Bangladesh is on track towards SDG implementation, there are concerns about the impacts of COVID-19 pandemic, especially in securing financing for the SDGs. The Foreign Minister also called for continued support measures for graduating countries. Momen requested the Secretary General for Bangladesh’s enhanced representation in the United Nations particularly at senior management level. The foreign minister congratulated Secretary General on his re-appointment for second term and commended his leadership of the UN in his first term as Secretary General. Later, Momen held a meeting with UN Under Secretary General for Department for Peacebuilding and Political Affairs Rosemary DiCarlo. During the meeting they discussed the current political situation in Myanmar and its impacts on the repatriation of the Rohingyas from Bangladesh to Myanmar. Bangladesh Permanent Representative in the UN Ambassador Rabab Fatima accompanied the foreign minister in both the meetings. Source: BSS AH

The United Nations Security Council on Tuesday approved Secretary General Antonio Guterres for a second term, with conflict resolution set to top his agenda at the world body’s helm. The 72-year-old former prime minister of Portugal has held the office since 2017 and faced no competition for the next term in the job. Around 10 other people also sought the post, but they were not formal candidates because none of the 193 UN member states endorsed them. During a brief closed door session the Security Council voted unanimously to recommend that the General Assembly give Guterres another term, said the council’s current president, Estonian ambassador Sven Jurgenson. Approval from the General Assembly is seen as a formality and expected to take place soon. During his first term Guterres was forced to concentrate on limiting the potential damage from the unilateral, nationalist and alliance-wary foreign policy of then US president Donald Trump. Now, as he embarks on a new term, Guterres will need “a battle plan” for all the crises around the globe, one diplomat said. He can point to few major diplomatic victories over the past five years. Wars or conflicts in Syria, Yemen and Mali, for instance, are nowhere near resolution. A peace process has begun in Libya, which descended into violent chaos after the death of Moamer Kadhafi in 2011, but the UN is mainly seen as playing an accompanying role. Critics also point to the UN’s passivity in the face of Myanmar’s military crackdown against the Rohingya people since 2017, which UN investigators have said amounts to genocide. Guterres said last month that “key elements” of his work depended on discretion. “Sometimes to be effective, it needs to be done discreetly, to establish back channels between parties,” Guterres said. Such channels, he said, “are essential to avoid the worst in the confrontations and to try to find solutions.” Under constant pressure from major powers and small countries alike, Guterres managed to avoid alienating any of the five permanent members of the Security Council. This locked in a second term for him. – Criticism from NGOs – “We are in debt to him because the UN did not implode under Trump, which it could have,” one diplomat from one of those five nations said. Conflict resolution will be the defining challenge of his second term, diplomats say. “He had a hard time being influential in the resolution of crises, but did his predecessors do any better?” another diplomat said, also speaking on condition of anonymity. During his first term Guterres also made the fight against global warming one of his priorities. “We will not be able to reach our target solution to climate change if we have not a combined approach to these three areas: oceans, pollution, biodiversity,” he said recently. Here, too, he has little success to point to. On the pandemic, Guterres has spoken out about the ravages of Covid-19 and dangers that still await the world from the health crisis. But here as well his room for maneuver was limited, as countries opted to fight individual battles against the pandemic rather than make it a team effort against a common enemy. The harshest criticism of Guterres comes from NGOs who accuse him of not doing enough on human rights. Guterres defends himself against this criticism. “Guterres’s first term was defined by public silence regarding human rights abuses by China, Russia, and the United States and their allies,” said Kenneth Roth, executive director of Human Rights Watch. “With his reelection behind him, Guterres should use the next five years to become a strong vocal advocate for rights,” Roth added. “His recent willingness to denounce abuses in Myanmar and Belarus should expand to include all governments deserving condemnation, including those that are powerful and protected.” Source: AFP/BSS AH

The United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres said Rohingyas want justice and safe return home. “I’ve just heard unimaginable accounts of killing and rape from Rohingyas who recently fled Myanmar. They want justice and safe return home,” Guterres said in his twitter accounts during a visit in Rohingya camps of Cox’s Bazar on Monday. Reports BSS. Ahead of the visit early Monday, in his another tweet, the UN chief said the Rohingyas are one of the most discriminated and vulnerable communities on earth. “The Rohingya crisis is a humanitarian and human rights nightmare. I thank Bangladesh for its generosity in hosting the displaced Myanmar nationals,” he said. The UN Secretary General also expressed concerned about the overall condition of the Rohingya during this monsoon season saying that the safety of the Rohingyas during this season is priority one. “We cannot allow the monsoon to wash away the hopes of the Rohingyas I met today in Bangladesh,” he also twitted on Monday. The UN chief along with The World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim reached Cox’s Bazar on a special flight of Biman Bangladesh airlines at 8:45am to visit different Rohingya camps there. Bangladesh Foreign Minister A H Mahmood Ali and visiting United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi also accompanied them. Around 7 lakh Rohingyas took shelter in Bangladesh from Myanmar’s Rakhine state since last August following the brutal military actions termed by UN as “ethnic cleansing” and “genocide” by rights groups. AH

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said they will put more pressure on Myanmar to make them understand what they should do over the Rohingya issue. "We’re keeping up pressure on Myanmar...we need to put more pressure on Myanmar to make them understand what they should do over this issue," he said. Antonio Guterres said this when he met Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at her office on Sunday. Reports UNB. World Bank President Jim Yong Kim also met the Prime Minister at the same time. PM's Press Secretary Ihsanul Karim briefed reporters after the meeting. He said the United Nations and the World Bank will continue their support to Bangladesh over the Rohingya issue. Guterres mentioned that the international community reiterated their solidarity towards Bangladesh on the issue and appreciated the government of Bangladesh for giving shelter to the Rohingyas. He noted with satisfaction that the World Bank has come forward to help Bangladesh deal with the Rohingya issue. The Prime Minister apprised them about the current situation of the Rohingyas and mentioned that these people started entering Bangladesh in 1977. Sheikh Hasina said Bangladesh has given shelter to 1.1 million Rohingyas only on humanitarian ground, and various services, including healthcare, are being provided to them. She said the government is preparing an island to relocate around 1 lakh Rohingyas where they will get better living condition and livelihood opportunities. The Prime Minister said the local people of Bangladesh are experiencing adverse impacts as over one million people have taken shelter in Bangladesh. "We’ve to look into their problem as well, and we’re doing that." Regarding dialogue between Bangladesh and Myanmar governments to repatriate the Rohingyas, she said both countries signed agreements over the matter. "But, they’re yet to take any action for its implementation," she added. Antonio Guterres said the main concern of them is the radicalization of education system of Rohingyas and emphasized checking this element.  He highly praised the socioeconomic development of Bangladesh, measures taken to counter terrorism and disaster management and steps over dealing with climate change. "Bangladesh is one of the most successful counties in disaster management." Mentioning that the cooperation with Bangladesh will continue, he also appreciated Bangladesh's efforts to establish peace across the globe being the second highest peacekeeper sender. The UN Secretary General presented a photograph of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman while he was giving his first speech at the UN General Assembly on September 25, 1974 to the Prime Minister. President of the World Bank Jim Yong Kim said development activities and humanitarian issues should be dealt with together and assured the Prime Minister that the cooperation of the World Bank to Bangladesh government will continue. He mentioned that Bangladesh is the second highest recipient of World Bank loan. "And this shows our faith in your leadership and we’re inspired by your leadership." Congratulating Bangladesh's drive towards graduating from the Least Developed Countries (LDCs) status, Jim Yong Kim said he will request the World Bank Board so that Bangladesh could avail of loans at a concessional rate. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said the dream of the Father of the Nation was to build a poverty- and hunger-free Bangladesh. "And we’ve made progress…," he said. She said the GDP growth in the last fiscal was 7.78 percent, while the electricity production in the country reached 18,000 MW. Finance Minister AMA Muhith, Foreign Minister AH Mahmood Ali, PM's Adviser Dr Towfiq-E-Elahi Chowdhury and State Minister for Foreign Affairs Shahriar Alam were, among others, present during the meeting. AH