UN secretary general lauds Bangladesh’s COVID mitigation efforts

UN Secretary General (SG) Antonio Guterres has highly applauded Bangladesh’s tremendous efforts in mitigating health and socio-economic consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic. He made this appreciation in a meeting with Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen virtually on Thrusday, a Foreign Ministry press release said here today.

The UN secretary general praised Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, especially for her strong commitment to the people of Bangladesh. Guterres and the foreign minister agreed that COVID-19 vaccination should be treated as ‘global public good’.

The secretary general highly appreciated Bangladesh’s generosity in giving shelter to the Rohingyas and reiterated that the “return of refugees to Myanmar is our common objective”. He said that the UN stands ready to support Bangladesh in resolving the crisis.

The foreign minister apprised the secretary general of the measures taken by the government in Bhashanchar and requested the UN’s support for humanitarian assistance there for the Rohingyas.

Momen welcomed the secretary general’s call to mobilize climate financing and told him that as the current CVF President, 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.

The foreign minister requested the secretary general to use his good offices to convince development partners and IFIs to incentivize the graduating countries with new support mechanisms even after graduation.

Sharing his views, Guterres mentioned 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 said.

The foreign minister also discussed the issues of the twin celebration of birth centenary of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and the golden jubilee of Bangladesh independence. He invited the UN secretary general to participate in the celebration of Mujib Year and the Golden Jubilee of Bangladesh’s independence. Bangladesh Permanent Representative to the UN, Ambassador Rabab Fatima was present during the meeting.