prime minister
Declare Covid vaccines as 'global public good': Hasina
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has reiterated her call to global leaders to declare Covid-19 vaccines as 'global public good' and allow the developing countries and LDCs to produce vaccines that have the capacity.
“For effective global vaccination, Covid-19 vaccines need to be declared as ‘global public good’. To guarantee universal access, local production of vaccines by the developing countries and LDCs that have the capacity must be allowed,” she said.
The Prime Minister made the call in her prerecorded speech for the ‘White House Global Covid-19 Summit: Ending the Pandemic and Building Back Better Health Security to prepare For the Next’.
US President Joe Biden convened the Summit.
Sheikh Hasina said Bangladesh took a three-fold approach to fight the pandemic.
Those are: Saving lives by allocating adequate medical facilities, equipment, life-saving drugs and resources; Supporting the livelihoods of citizens, especially the most vulnerable groups; and Recovering economic activities back on track as quickly as possible.
Read: Hasina woos US investors; offers attractive facilities
Sheikh Hasina GM Chess: Indian IM Mitrabha Guha takes solo lead
Indian IM Mitrabha Guha took solo lead in the Joytu Sheikh Hasina International Grandmasters Chess Tournament’2021 securing full 4 points each after 4th round games held at Aarokanon Ballroom in Hotel 71 here on Wednesday,
Another Indian IM Koustav Chatterjee are jointly in the 2nd position with 3.5 points each.
Bangladesh Chess Federation with financial assistance of Canadian University of Bangladesh organised the tournament to mark the 75th birthday of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
Seven players are sharing 3rd position with 3 points each. They are: GM Ziaur Rahman and FM Debaraj Chatterjee of Bangladesh, GM Andrey Sumets of Ukraine, IM Aronyak Ghosh, IM Sanklap Gupta and IM Sayantan Das of India.
Read: Sheikh Hasina Intl Chess Tournament begins Sunday
In the day’s 4th round matches, IM Mitrabha beat IM Sayantan, IM Nubairshah drew with GM Sumets, IM Aronyk drew with GM Zia, IM Kaustav beat IM Sammed Joykumar Shety, IM Sankalp beat GM Alexy Kislinsky of Chez Republic, Sourath Biswas drew with GM Deep Sengupta, IM Abu Sufian Shakil drew with GM Vadim Malakhatko of Belgium, FM Debaraj beat IM Neelash Saha, FM Sk. Nasir Ahmed drew with GM Alexander Zubarev of Ukraine, WIM Arpita drew with GM Enamul Hossain, IM Srijit beat CM Sohel Chowdhury, CM Tahsin Tajwar Zia drew with GM Ghaem Ehsan Maghami of Iran, GM Mosadeghpour Masoud of Iran beat CM Liyanage Ranindu Dilshan of Sri Lanka, Shafiq Ahmed beat IM Asyl Abdyjapar of Kyrgyzstan, IM Mohammad Fahad Rahman beat FM Mehdi Hasan Parag, FM Md Taibur Rahman beat IM Mahmood Lodhi, Subhayan Kundu beat CM Md. Sharif Hossain, CM Sadanan Hasan Dihan drew with FM Subrota Biswas, Sanket Chakravarty beat WFM Noshin Anjum, FM Piyumantha Sasith Nipun beat Swarnavo Choudhury, IM Mohammad Minhaz Uddin beat CM Nayem Haque, Sakline Mostafa Sajid beat Anata Choudhury, Showkat Hossain Pollab beat CM Manon Reja Neer, CM Chanchal Kumar Ghosh beat Kazi Zarin Tasnim, CM Md Jamal Uddin beat wCM Jannatul Ferdous, WCM Ahmed Walijah drew with FM Syed Mahfuzur Rahman, FM Md Saif Uddin Lavlu drew with Jabed Al Azad, Mohammad Shameem beat Wadifa Ahmed, Mortuza Mahathir Islam drew with Delwar Hossain and Md Sariatullah drew with Marzouq Chowdhury..
The 5th round games will be held on Thursday from 3:00 pm at same venue.
Act quickly to stop rollback of women’s progress: Hasina
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has said the world needs to act urgently to stop the rollback of hard-earned women empowerment due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
“Our hard-earned progress is at risk of rollback. We need to act urgently to stop this. For that, we must place women at the front and centre of Covid recovery,” she said.
The Prime Minister said this while addressing the High Level Meeting on Women Leaders conveyed by the President of the General Assembly Volkan Bozkır at the Trusteeship Council of the United Nations Headquarters on Tuesday.
She highlighted three points — localising the Advisory Board on Gender Equality, nurturing women-led organizations and convening a leaders’ summit to reinforce common agenda for gender equality -- to bring women progress back on track.
About the summit, Hasina said, “All leaders – not just us - should join and present concrete commitments for advancing gender equality.”
The Prime Minister said the Covid impacts have been especially hard for women. “Unpaid care work has increased. Gender-based violence has risen. Unicef anticipates additional ten million child marriages before the end of this decade.”
Read: Covid: A catalyst for women entrepreneurship in Bangladesh!
In Bangladesh, she said, emphasis has been put on women empowerment. In their political empowerment, Bangladesh ranked 7th in the world. Increased number of women is joining the workforce.
PM joins opening session of 76th UNGA general debate
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Tuesday attended the opening session of the high-level general debate of the 76th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA).
The UNGA general debate will continue till September 27 with participation of heads of states and governments across the world.
Sheikh Hasina will deliver her speech in the high-level general debate at the General Assembly Hall of the UN headquarters on September 24.
Read: PM arrives in New York to attend UNGA
The 76th session of the UNGA opened on September 14. On the opening day, Abdulla Shahid of the Maldives was sworn in as the president of the 76th session of UNGA.
Due to the global pandemic, small delegations are allowed in the UNGA this year.
Read: PM’s presence in UNGA important for critical issues: Dr Momen
Over 100 Heads of State or Governments are expected to attend in person in the 76th UNGA.
Sheikh Hasina arrived in New York on Sunday last to join the UNGA for the 18th time as the head of the government of Bangladesh.
PM plants tree at UN gardens, dedicates those to Bangabandhu
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Monday planted a honey locust tree and unveiled a bench at UN gardens and dedicated these to Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman on the occasion of his birth centenary.
She planted the deciduous tree at the North Lawn of the United Nations Headquarters in the morning (local tome).
Speaking on the occasion, the Prime Minister said the United Nations had recognized Bangladesh on September 17 after its independence. Immediately after getting the recognition, Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman came to the UN and made his speech here on September 25 and which was delivered in Bengal.
READ: Durga Puja: PM donates Tk 3 crore
“So, today a bench was dedicated to his name and a tree was planted in a very nice place here in the same month of September. The tree can survive for more than 100 years, which will continue spreading the message of peace,” she said, adding the bench and tree stand together to epitomize the values of peace.
Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen, State Minister for Foreign Affairs M Shahriar Alam and Bangladesh Permanent Representative to UN Ambassador Rabab Fatima were, among others, present.
Locust trees are a type of fast-growing flowering plant, belonging to the family of plants known as Fabaceae. Almost all Locust trees can survive for more than a hundred years and their wood is deemed harder than the strongest deciduous trees.
The Prime Minister arrived here on Sunday to attend the 76th session of the United Nation General Assembly.
READ: PM arrives in New York to attend UNGA
She will attend the opening session of the UNGA general debate on Tuesday (September 21) and will address the general debate on September 24.
Besides, Sheikh Hasina will join a number of sideline events in the UNHQ and will have talks with some leaders from September 20 to 24 during her stay in New York.
Hasina seeks stronger steps to address ‘planetary emergency’
Renewing her call for strict implementation of the Paris Agreement, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has asked global leaders to take stronger steps urgently to address the planetary emergency of climate change.
Sheikh Hasina also placed six-point proposal before the global leaders as the COP-26 is just few months away.
Addressing a closed-door leaders’ meeting arranged for a small group of heads of state and governments on Climate Change held at Trusteeship Council of the UN Headquarters on Monday.
READ: PM arrives in New York to attend UNGA
The proposal include strict implementation of the Paris Agreement to keep the global temperature rise below 1.5 degree Celsius, realisation of annual $100 billion climate fund from the developed countries, 50 per cent of this fund should go to adaptation and resilience, especially to climate vulnerable countries.
The other proposals are: Forging new financial mechanisms and transfer of green technology to the developing countries, addressing loss-and-damage issue, and displacement of large-scale population due to climate change and capacity building of CVF countries to tackle the double jeopardy of pandemic and disaster, particularly with the increased frequency of climate-induced disasters.
“Finally, we need a ‘whole-of-the-world’ approach to leave a sustainable future for our next generations,” she said.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and UN Secretary General António Guterres convened the meeting.
Hasina said climate vulnerable countries contribute the least to the global Green House gas emissions. “Yet, they’re the worst victims of the impacts of climate change.”
PM leaves Finland en route to New York to attend UNGA
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Sunday left here for USA to attend the 76th session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.
The VVIP chartered flight of Biman Bangladesh Airlines carrying the PM left Helsinki-Vantaa Airport at 4:16 pm (local time), said PM’s press secretary Ihsanul Karim.
Ambassador of Bangladesh in Finland (non-resident) Md Nazmul Islam saw her off her at the airport.
The flight is scheduled to land at John F. Kennedy International Airport, New York at 6pm (local time).
It is her first foreign trip since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic in March 2020.
She is going to join the UNGA for the 18th time as the head of government of Bangladesh and will address the UNGA general debate on September 24.
Besides, Sheikh Hasina will attend the opening session of the UNGA general debate on September 21 and other sideline events in the UN headquarters (UNHQ) on September 20-24. She will also have talks with a number of leaders during her stay in New York. The PM is expected to return home on October 1 next.
She will stay at the Hotel Lotte Palace during her stay in New York from September 19 to 25.
On September 20 (Monday), the PM will attend a closed-door meeting for a small group of HOSs/HOGs on climate change at the UNHQ at 9am, plant a tree and dedicate a bench at the UN Gardens at 11:30am in honour of the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman on the occasion of his birth centenary, and lay a floral wreath at the Peace Memorial at the North Lawn of UNHQ at 11:50am.
Read: PM reaches Finland route to New York to attend UNGA
On Monday, Sheikh Hasina will sit in two separate bilateral meetings with EU Council President Charles Michel at 12:30pm (local time) and with Barbados Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley at 2:45pm at her place of residence. Besides, she will join a virtual event of Sustainable Development Solution Network at 4:00pm.
On September 21 (Tuesday), the PM will attend the opening session of the UNGA general debate at 9:00pm, sit in a bilateral meeting with Denmark Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen in the afternoon and join Business Roundtable on US-Bangladesh Business Council at 4:00pm at the place of residence.
On September 22 (Wednesday), Sheikh Hasina will virtually attend three events. The events are the high-level meeting of the UNGA to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the adoption of the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action at 9:00am, White House Global Covid-19 Summit: Ending the Pandemic and building back better, and a high level side event on Rohingya crisis: imperatives for a sustainable solution at 3:00pm.
On September 23 (Thursday), the Bangladesh PM will attend two programmes by sending her pre-recorded statements. These are the Leaders’ Network on ‘delivering on the UN common agenda: Action to achieve equality and inclusion’ to be organised by Swedish Mission to the UN at 8:00am, and the Food Systems Summit, as part of the decade of action to achieve the sustainable development goals (SDGs) by 2030, convened by the UNSG at 1:00pm.
Read: PM flies for Finland Friday morning on her way to UNGA
On Thursday, Sheikh Hasina will sit in four separate bilateral meetings with Queen Máxima of the Netherlands at the place of residence, UN Secretary-General António Guterres at 1:30pm, Maldives President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih at 2:00pm and Vietnam President Nguyễn Xuân Phúc at 2:40pm at the UNHQ.
On September 24 (Friday), the Bangladesh Prime Minister will address the UNGA 76 general debate in the morning, sit in a bilateral meeting with Netherlands Prime Minister Mark Rutte at UNHQ, and will virtually join a community programme.
On September 25 (Saturday), Sheikh Hasina will depart New York for Washington DC by a Biman flight at 8:00am. She will stay in Washington DC from 25 to 30 September.
Hasina is scheduled to leave Washington for Dhaka on 30 September and will return home on October 1 after a short stopover in Finland.
Quader condemns BNP’s protests against PM’s visit in New York
Denouncing BNP’s street protest against Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s UNGA visit in New York the Awami League general secretary on Sunday accused the opposition party of damaging the country’s image abroad. “BNP is not only creating chaos in the country, it is also conspiring to tarnish the nation’s image abroad,” said AL leader Obaidul Quader at a briefing at his residence this morning referring to BNP’s demonstration ahead PM’s arrival in New York. Condemning the BNP's deep-rooted conspiracy, Quader also said that the prime minister did not go on a visit abroad in the last 19 months due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The PM decided to attend the important 76th UN General Assembly in person considering national interest, he said. “Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina did not want to miss the opportunity to speak on behalf of the people of Bangladesh in the UN forum on various issues including Corona, climate change, and the Rohingya crisis,” said Quader. He said "We are surprised to observe that BNP has started protesting before the arrival of Sheikh Hasina in New York.”
READ: Govt working to constitute EC as per constitution: Quader
He said the BNP has lost the confidence of the people due to its harmful politics. None can break the record of cruelty and political oppression set by the BNP while in power, he added. The AL leader said that no matter how much BNP tries to destroy the country’s existing stability, it will never succeed. Quader said the BNP has again started conspiring with new tactics to obstruct the establishment of democracy.
READ: Payra Bridge to be opened in Oct: Quader
Hasina places six proposals to make world more liveable
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Friday put forward six proposals to make the world more liveable by bringing down carbon emissions and tackle the people being displaced across the globe due to climate change.
She placed her proposals while delivering the pre-recorded speech in the ‘Major Economies Forum on Energy and Climate’, convened by US President Joe Biden.
The Prime Minister, in her first proposal, asked the major carbon-emitting countries to take action to reduce their emissions to keep the global temperature rise at 1.5 degrees Celsius.
In her second proposal, Hasina renewed her call for fulfilling the commitment of an annual 100-billion-dollar climate fund by the developed countries and distributing it 50:50 between adaptation and mitigation.
The Prime Minister, in her third proposal, advised the developed countries to come forward with the most effective energy solutions along with technology transfer to the developing countries.
Also read: Hasina places 4 suggestions to deal with climate challenge
PM reaches Finland route to New York to attend UNGA
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina reached Finland on Friday en route to New York to attend the 76th session of the United Nations General Assembly.
Ambassador of Bangladesh in Finland (non-resident) Md Nazmul Islam received the prime minister at the Vanta International Airport, Helsinki as she arrived there on a VVIP chartered flight of Biman Bangladesh Airlines at 3:37 pm local time ( 9 am Bangladesh time).
On September 19 (Sunday), Sheikh Hasina will leave Helsinki for New York by a VVIP flight of Biman Bangladesh Airlines (BG-1902) at 3pm (local time). The flight is scheduled to land at John F. Kennedy International Airport, New York at 6pm (local time).
Read: PM flies for Finland Friday morning on her way to UNGA
It is her first foreign trip since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic in March 2020. She is going to join the UNGA for the 18th time as the head of government of Bangladesh and will address the UNGA general debate on September 24.
During the two-week official visit Sheikh Hasina will attend the opening session of the UNGA general debate on September 21 and other sideline events in the UN headquarters (UNHQ) on September 20-24. She will also have talks with a number of leaders during her stay in New York. The PM is expected to return home on October 1 next.