UNESCO launches award in Bangabandu's name

Lawmakers addressing in the parliament Monday said launching an award in the name of Bangabandu by the The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) is not only a recognition to the great leader Bangabandhu but also an appreciation to the development of a third world country.

 The treasury and opposition bench lawmakers alike said this while addressing on a proposal placed by ruling party whip Shahiduzzaman Sarker of Naogaon-2 under section 147 of the rules of procedure of the Jatiya Sangsad which was later passed in voice votes in the parliament, reports BSS.

Participating in the discussion, treasury bench lawmaker Sheikh Fazlul Karim Selim said “the launching of the award proved that the false criticism by the opponents during the regime of Bangabandhu was not basically true. So, the recognition of Bangabandhu by the international community is a ‘slap’ on the face such black sheep.”  

“We could not evaluate the great leader during his lifetime, but the international community had correctly felt the philosophy and greatness of  the leader of thousands of years,” he added.

The main objective of the proposal was to congratulate the international organization UNESCO on behalf of the Bangladeshi people for launching this prestigious award in the name of a Bangladeshi leader.

Regarding introducing the award by UNESCO, lawmaker Begum Matia Chowdhury said “BNP and its alliance only can criticize the development of Sheikh Hasina, but they have no idea how to take country forward.”

Terming the launching of the award is challenging, the deputy leader of the opposition Golam Mohammad Quader said “there are only twenty-nine international award on the name of several prominent persons and Bangabandhu is one among them.”

The government, led by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, has introduced a global award with UNESCO to recognize contributions to "Creative Economy".

The award takes the Bangladesh success story to the global stage and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina handed over the prize at a ceremony in Paris on Thursday.

The Prime Minister also delivered her remarks before announcing the winner's name and handing over the prize.

PM Hasina's presence at the first award-giving ceremony coincides with the Golden Jubilee of Bangladesh's Independence.

Audrey Azoulay, who was re-elected on Tuesday to the post of Director-General of UNESCO with the massive support of the Organization’s 193 Member States,  delivered welcome remarks at the function.

MoTIV, a Uganda-based integrated creative studio was named the winner of the first edition of the “UNESCO-Bangladesh Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman International Prize for the Creative Economy,” according to the media report.

The US $50,000 Prize is awarded on a biennial basis, initially for three iterations of the Prize.

 The first award ceremony was held on the occasion of UNESCO’s 41st General Conference and subsequent award ceremonies held on the occasion of the Conference of Parties to the 2005 Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions.

The purpose of the UNESCO-Bangladesh Bangabandhu Prize is to recognise and reward exceptional initiatives of an individual, institution, an entity or non-governmental organization which/who, devised and delivered innovative projects or programmes that promote youth entrepreneurship in the area of creative economy.

 Among the lawmakers, Leader of the House  Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Amir Hossain Amu, Education Minister Dr Dipu Moni, State Minister for ICT Zuniad Ahmed Palak, Quazi Nabil Ahmed, Wasika Ayesha Khan, Nurul Islam Nahid, AK Abdul Momen, Rashed Khan Menon, Rustam Ali Farazi, Peer Fazlur Rahman,Fakhrul Imam, Harunur Rashid, Mujibul Huq Chunnu and Mashiur Rahman Ranga participated in the discussion.