Star Digital Report
February 26, 2021
Expressing satisfaction that Bangladesh is going to graduate from LDC category, Foreign Minister requested the Secretary General to use his offices to convince development partners and international financial institutions to incentivise the graduating countries with new support mechanisms even after graduation.
Antonio Guterres observed that graduation should not be considered a technocratic issue measured only by GDP, instead a multidimensional vulnerability index may be used while considering this.
"Graduation should not be punished rather rewarded," he told Foreign Minister Momen.
The minister invited Guterres to participate the twin celebration of birth centenary of the father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and the golden jubilee of Bangladesh's independence.
They also discussed UN peacekeeping, LDC issues and reelection bid of the Secretary-General.
Permanent Representative of Bangladesh to the UN in New York, Ambassador Rabab Fatima was present during the meeting.
February 26, 2021
Foreign
Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen has requested the UN to provide humanitarian
assistance for the Rohingyas in Bhasan Char, where a housing facility
has been developed for one lakh Rohingyas.
"The
Foreign Minister explained the Secretary General of the measures taken
by the Government in Bhasan char and requested the UN's support for
humanitarian assistance there for the Rohingyas," said Bangladesh's
Permanent Mission to the UN in New York in a statement today, referring
to a virtual meeting between them.
Momen
has been visiting the USA since February 22. He already spoke to US
Secretary of State Antony Blinken over phone, held meeting with US
Congresswoman Grace Meng.
On
Thursday, the foreign minister held a virtual meeting with the UN
Secretary General Antonio Guterres and discussed the issues related to
Covid-19 vaccination, Rohingya crisis and climate change.
Guterres
lauded Bangladesh's generosity in giving shelter to the Rohingyas and
reiterated that, "Return of refugees to Myanmar is our common
objective". Some 750,000 Rohingyas fled a brutal military campaign in
2017, joining 300,000 other Rohingyas who had faced waves of persecution
in Myanmar's Rakhine state since 1980s.
Bangladesh
government built a planned housing facility with Tk 3,100 in Bhasan
Char that includes hospital, cyclone shelters, hospitals, school
facilities, high flood protection embankment, while projects are
undergoing to create livelihood options for the Rohingyas.
Starting
from December last year until now, more than 10,000 Rohingyas were
relocated to the housing facility in the island under Noakhali.
Eventually, one lakh will be relocated to ease congestion in the camps
of Cox's Bazar.
The
UN has sought to send a technical team for assessment of the facility,
but that has not been done yet. Bhasan Char has not yet been under the
Joint Response Plan, a yearly budgeting for the Rohingyas, prepared by
the UN and other international agencies.
During
the virtual meeting, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres lauded
Bangladesh's tremendous efforts in mitigating the health and
socio-economic consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Referring
to Bangladesh's past successes in disaster management, he said in view
of Bangladesh's ranking as a global leader in risk mitigation, he was
not surprised to see such accomplishment.
They also agreed that Covid-19 vaccination should be treated as 'global public good'.
Foreign
Minister Momen welcomed Secretary General's call to mobilize climate
financing and told that as the current president of Climate Vulnerable
Forum, Bangladesh would continue to work together with the UN to achieve
climate ambition and build resilience in preparation for the COP 26 in
Glasgow this year.
Stating
that fighting climate change is the battle of his life, Guterres said he
would be pursuing the donors to allocate 50 percent of proposed climate
funds for adaptation strategies.
He termed Bangladesh's enormous adaptation efforts on the coastal region and managing rivers as remarkable efforts.
Expressing satisfaction that Bangladesh is going to graduate from LDC category, Foreign Minister requested the Secretary General to use his offices to convince development partners and international financial institutions to incentivise the graduating countries with new support mechanisms even after graduation.
Antonio Guterres observed that graduation should not be considered a technocratic issue measured only by GDP, instead a multidimensional vulnerability index may be used while considering this.
"Graduation should not be punished rather rewarded," he told Foreign Minister Momen.
The minister invited Guterres to participate the twin celebration of birth centenary of the father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and the golden jubilee of Bangladesh's independence.
They also discussed UN peacekeeping, LDC issues and reelection bid of the Secretary-General.
Permanent Representative of Bangladesh to the UN in New York, Ambassador Rabab Fatima was present during the meeting.
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