Sheikh Hasina
PM returns home Sunday ending 2-week foreign tour
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will return home on Sunday morning, wrapping up her two-week visit to the United Kingdoms and France.
She left the French capital, Paris, by a VVIP flight of Biman Bangladesh Airlines at 4:20pm (local time) on Saturday. Bangladesh Ambassador to France Khandaker Mohammad Talha saw her off at De Gaulle International Airport in Paris.
She was given static guard of honour by 21 guards while walking through the red carpet before boarding on the plane.
The flight is scheduled to land at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport at 10:00am on Sunday.
Read: PM hands over 1st UNESCO-Bangabandhu prize to MoTIV of Uganda
On October 31, the Prime Minister left Dhaka for Scotland on the foreign visit to attend the 26th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) at Glasgow in Scotland, and Bangladesh Investment Summit 2021 in London and handover the first ‘Unesco-Bangladesh Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman International Prize for the Creative Economy’ in Paris.
During the tour, Hasina had meetings with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, French President Emmanuel Macron, French Prime Minister Jean Castex, French Prime Minister Jean Castex, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison and other heads of state or government.
Besides, she had meetings with UK's Prince Charles, First Minister of Scotland Nicola Sturgeon, Commonwealth Secretary General Particia Scotland, Bill Gates, as well as other important dignitaries from different organisations and business bodies.
The Prime Minister left Scotland for London on November 03 and then went to Paris on November 09.
Read: Rohingya repatriation: PM seeks strong steps from world leaders
In London, the Prime Minister inaugurated the “Bangladesh Investment Summit 2021: Building Sustainable Growth Partnerships” and Roadshow on November 4.
During her stay in Paris, she also attended the inaugural session of the 75th Founding anniversary of Unesco and the Paris Peace Forum.
Hasina joined three civic receptions accorded to her by the Bangladeshi community living in Scotland, London and Paris.
France showers immense honour on PM Hasina
France has shown ‘exceptional honour’ to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina during her ongoing visit to the country, according to Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen.
Describing the visit as ‘historic’, he said the French side expressed their keenness to strengthen bilateral relations and take them to a new height.
“No head of state or government of Bangladesh has ever received such honour as the Prime Minister witnessed here during this visit,” he said while talking to reporters here.
Read: South-South cooperation: Hasina for setting up ‘Knowledge Centre’ in Bangladesh
Highlighting different arrangements organised in honour of the Prime Minister during this state visit, Dr Momen said the French President and Prime Minister as well as others have given her a warm reception with great enthusiasm.
He said France has rolled out the red carpet on her arrival at the airport and the Elysee Palace. She also received a Guard of Honour at the Presidential palace.
The Foreign Minister said the Heads of State and Government of different countries attending the UNESCO Conference highly appreciated the development of Bangladesh achieved under the leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
Read: Hasina urges UNESCO to declare online and remote learning as public good
Mentioning that new dimensions in the bilateral relations between Bangladesh and France has been explored through this visit of the Prime Minister, Bangladesh Ambassador to France Khandker Mohammad Talha said the world is now thinking about Bangladesh and that is why they have extended cooperation.
Unite for common good: Hasina to global leaders
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Friday urged the world leaders to seize the moment to forge a strong partnership for the common good of global humanity as the world is now moving towards recovery from the pandemic fallouts.
“May I entreat that as the world is now moving on the way to recovery from the pandemic, let’s seize the moment to forge a strong partnership for the common good of our global humanity,” she said.
Sheikh Hasina said this while speaking at a programme here at the UNESCO headquarters marking the 75th Anniversary of UNESCO with its Director-General Audrey Azoulay in the chair.
She said the 75th anniversary is a unique moment to celebrate the achievements while it is also an important occasion to introspect and revisit the organization’s activities for the next 25 years leading to its centenary.
“The pandemic menace has taken lives, and changed our lives. It has also taught us to survive through innovative acts and speed,” she said.
Read: South-South cooperation: Hasina for setting up ‘Knowledge Centre’ in Bangladesh
The Prime Minister put forward a four-point proposal before the global community.
Raising the proposals, she said, “First, the pandemic has severely disrupted the education system. For recovery, there’s a need for a global plan to prioritise learning by investing in digital tools and services, access to internet, digital content, and capacity building of teachers,” she said.
Secondly, Hasina said, public-private partnership must be forged for creating a technology-assisted meaningful learning environment.
In her third point, the PM said, Covid-19 vaccines must be considered as a global public good. We must ensure its access to all, especially students and educators worldwide,” she said.
In the 4th proposal, she said the benefit of science and scientific research must be harnessed for the welfare of peoples, with technology transfer at the core.
The PM mentioned that Bangladesh’s commitment to the principles of UNESCO is reflected by its early membership in 1972. “We consider this organization as one of the most effective platforms for promoting global peace and collective prosperity,” she said.
Guided by the peace-centric foreign policy of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, she said Bangladesh always remains at the forefront of global peace initiatives. “Our participation in UN peacekeeping as the top contributor is one such case,” she added.
As a proponent of a culture of peace, Bangladesh has been disseminating the message of peace through instilling tolerance and respect, Hasina said.
Read: Hasina urges UNESCO to declare online and remote learning as public good
“To do this, we’ve chosen education, science, culture and communications as effective tools. Our investment is particularly enormous in education with targeted interventions like stipends, gender-sensitive approach, school-feeding programmes and ICT education,” she said.
Hasina mentioned that some 400 million free textbooks are distributed among around 42 million students in the beginning of school years.
The PM said the Digital Bangladesh vision has been preparing, through ICT based learning, the future generations for the 4th Industrial Revolution.
“We’ve launched ICT in our Education Master Plan under which about 83,000 schools were provided with ICT devices, and 3,26,936 teachers trained,” she said.
PM hands over 1st UNESCO-Bangabandhu prize to MoTIV of Uganda
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has handed over the "UNESCO-Bangladesh Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman International Prize for the Creative Economy" to MoTIV, a Uganda-based integrated creative studio.
Noel Collin Kaijabwango, business and operations lead of MoTIV, received the award on behalf of team MoTIV.
Prime Minister's sister Sheikh Rehana was present beside her while handing over the prize.
Audrey Azoulay, who was re-elected Tuesday to the post of Director-General of UNESCO with the massive support of the organisation's 193 member states, delivered welcome remarks at the function.
Sheikh Hasina's presence at the first award-giving ceremony coincided with the Golden Jubilee of Bangladesh's Independence.
Addressing the function, Sheikh Hasina said UNESCO's decision to establish the UNESCO-Bangladesh Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman International Prize for the Creative Economy, is the most befitting tribute to his contribution to global humanity and peace.
What Bangladesh is today so different from what it was during the early years of independence is due to his visionary leadership and legacy, she added.
Investment in creative economy to accelerate development: PM
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Thursday said investment in the creative economy will help fulfill the collective aim of accelerating socio-economic development and technological advancement.
“We believe that investment on the creative economy will result in realization of the collective aim of furthering socio-economic development and technological advancement,” she said while addressing the Award Giving Ceremony of the first-ever UNESCO-Bangladesh Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman International Prize for Creative Economy.
Director General of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Audrey Azoulay chaired the ceremony held at the UNESCO headquarters here.
Sheikh Hasina said she believes that UNESCO’s decision to establish the UNESCO-Bangladesh Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman International Prize for the Creative Economy is the most befitting tribute to his contribution to global humanity and peace.
“…what Bangladesh is today so different from what it was during the early years of independence is due to his visionary leadership and legacy,” she said.
Acknowledging the kind support of the international community in the development of the country over the decades, she said, “We also wish to contribute to the socio-economic development and technological advancement for the betterment of the global community despite our limited capacity.”
Hasina hoped that this international prize would strengthen UNESCO’s efforts in the field of creative economy, further contributing towards its global priority, that is, Gender Equality and the priority for youth as a group.
“This UNESCO-Bangladesh Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman International Prize will surely create a knowledge-sharing mechanism by capturing, celebrating, and communicating the best practice in the development of creative entrepreneurship,” she said.
The Prime Minister said this year Bangladesh is celebrating the Golden Jubilee of its Independence, which coincides with the ‘Mujib Year’, the birth centenary of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. UNESCO is officially associated with the celebrations.
Read: Rohingya repatriation: PM seeks strong steps from world leaders
Hasina said Bangabandhu was a strong advocate of multilateralism, who treated the United Nations ‘as the centre of peoples’ future hopes and aspirations.’ Bangabandhu had similar sentiments and attributes for UNESCO as a specialized UN organ.
“The actions of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman towards promoting linguistic and cultural diversity and investing in peace are similarly central to all fields of UNESCO's mandate,” she said.
Hasina said Bangabandhu’s policy decisions and establishing institutions in the field of education, culture, science and technology and leadership in establishing democracy as the cornerstone of governance in a newly-independent country are directly linked to UNESCO´s core objectives.
Immediately after the Independence in 1971, Bangabandhu made primary education compulsory for all and free, she said, adding that Bangabandhu believed that expenditure on education was the best investment and declared free schooling for girls up to grade eight.
In a war-ravaged newly-independent country with many economic challenges, Bangabandhu nationalized over 36,000 Primary schools and their more than 150,000 teachers and employees across the country. “This simple example reveals his priority for education and a knowledge-based society,” said the PM.
Following his footprints, the present Awami League government has given priority to education. “We’ve established a primary school in almost every village.”
She said the number of pre-primary and primary schools in the country is now 133, 000. Of those, 65,566 are government-run schools.
Since 2010, free books, numbering about 400 million copies, are distributed among students up to secondary level. School lunches are arranged for 2.9 million students in economically backward areas, she added.
Hasina said more than 13.03 million primary students are supported by stipends. Stipend money goes to mothers or legitimate guardians directly through their mobile phones. Another 7 million students from Secondary to higher education have been brought under various scholarships, she said.
“We’ve established Prime Minister’s Education Assistance Trust for the management of the stipend and scholarships at secondary and college levels,” she said, adding that the government has also introduced Bangabandhu Science and Technology Fellowship for pursuing MS, PhD and post-doctoral studies and researches at renowned universities at home and abroad. So far, 580 scholars have been awarded with the fellowships spending about Tk 2 billion, she added.
The government has also established 20 new public technological and general universities in the country since 2009 raising the total number of public universities to 52, she mentioned.
Read: Hasina urges UNESCO to declare online and remote learning as public good
Besides, as many as 105 private universities are offering higher education in the country. Currently, technical educational institutions are being opened in all 492 upazilas or sub-districts, she said.
The PM said these measures helped the government bring down dropouts drastically. Enrolment in pre-primary and primary level increased to 99 percent. Female-male school enrolment ratio rose to 53:47 in 2017 from 35:65 in 2009. The increasing female education has significantly lowered the rate of child marriage, she noted.
“The investment in education has started giving dividends. Bangladesh has made impressive progress on socio-economic fronts during the last one decade,” the PM added.
During the period, per capita income tripled to US$ 2,554 and poverty rate lowered to 20.3 percent from 31.5 percent, she mentioned.
Hasina said the infant mortality rate has come down to 23.67 per 1,000; maternal mortality rate to 173 per 100 thousand live births; and the average lifespan of people rose to 73 years.
Bangladesh also graduated to a developing country from an LDC this year, the PM said.
She said the Father of the Nation envisioned a Golden Bangladesh which will be economically self-reliant and free from hunger, poverty and illiteracy.
UNESCO DG Audrey Azoulay also spoke at the event, while PM’s younger sister Sheikh Rehana was present on the dais.
Hasina urges UNESCO to declare online and remote learning as public good
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Thursday asked UNESCO to declare remote learning and online education as a global public good as these are creating a new divide.
“I also call upon UNESCO to work as a matter of priority with Governments, private sectors and other stakeholders to rally partnership and resources to make this happen,” she said while delivering her speech at the 41st General Conference of UNESCO held at its Headquarters here.
The Prime Minister said the pandemic has undermined the hard-earned achievements while it has revealed a major fault line in the education system.
According to UNESCO, close to half of the world's students are affected by partial or full school closures, she said.
“Online education evolved as a “new normal” during the pandemic. Yet, it also exposed a new divide,” she added.
In this connection, Sheikh Hasina said the advanced countries could swiftly move to online platforms. But the developing countries and LDCs were pushed further behind due to lack of resources and technologies. “This has jeopardized our decades of gains in school enrollment, literacy rate and learning of youth and adults,” she observed.
While digitisation has enhanced better services and free flow of information, all are worried by the misuse of digital tools and platforms for spreading harmful contents and hate speech, she said.
“This has a significant negative impact on the peace and stability of the society. World bodies like UNESCO should work for addressing this issue,” said the PM.
Read: Hasina invites French entrepreneurs to invest in Bangladesh
Talking about climate change, she said this is a life-threatening reality not only for Bangladesh but also for many other countries of the world.
PM attends bilateral meeting with Johnson, after calling on Charles
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Tuesday held a bilateral meeting with her British counterpart Boris Johnson on the sidelines of COP26.
The Prime Ministers discussed various issues of bilateral and multilateral import.
The meeting was held at the designated UK Meeting Room of the Scottish Exhibition Centre in Glasgow, where the UN-led COP26 climate conference is being held.
Earlier, the Prime Minister called on Prince Charles, heir to the British throne.
Hasina embarks on 2-week visit to UK, France Sunday
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will leave Dhaka on Sunday for the United Kingdom and France on a two-week visit.
During the visit, she will attend the 26th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26), Bangladesh Investment Summit and hand over ‘Unesco-Bangladesh Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman International Prize for the Creative Economy’.
The Prime Minister will also hold bilateral meetings with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and French President Emmanuel Macron apart from other heads of state and government during her visit.
The Prime Minister will also hold a meeting with the UK's Prince Charles.
A VVIP flight of Biman Bangladesh Airlines, carrying the Prime Minister and her entourage, will depart Hazrat Shajalal International Airport at 9pm.
It will land at Glasgow International Airport in Scotland at 2:45pm (local time) where Bangladeshi High Commissioner to the UK Saida Muna Tasneem will welcome her.
Hasina will address the key segment of the COP26 on November 1 apart from joining the opening ceremony.
The same day, the Prime Minister will attend a joint meeting of the Climate Vulnerable Forum (CVF)- Commonwealth High Level Panel Discussion on Climate Prosperity Partnership.
Hasina will also attend a meeting titled “Action and Solidarity-the critical decade” at the invitation of her British counterpart Boris Johnson on November 1.
She will have a meeting with Commonwealth secretary general Particia Scotland, Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Bill Gates, the founder of Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
She will attend a civic reception virtually arranged by the Bangladeshi Community living in Scotland.
Read: South Asian nations should work together: Hasina
On November 2, the Prime Minister will attend meetings titled “Women and Climate Change” and “Forging a CVF COP 26 Climate Emergency Pact”.
She will hold a bilateral meeting with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
She will have meetings with UK’s Prince Charles, First Minister of Scotland Nicola Sturgeon, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, speaker of Scottish Parliament Alison Johnstone.
Later, she will address “A Bangladesh Vision for Global Climate Prosperity”.
On November 3, she will leave Scotland for London by a Biman Bangladesh Airlines flight. It will take off at 12pm (local time) from Glasgow International Airport and land at Heathrow International Airport at 1:30pm.
Bangladeshi High Commissioner to the UK Saida Muna Tasneem will welcome her at the airport.
On the same day, she will go to Westminster where Rushanara Ali MP and Lord Gadhia will welcome her. She will have a courtesy call with British Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle.
On November 4, the Prime Minister will inaugurate the “Bangladesh Investment Summit 2021: Building Sustainable Growth Partnerships”.
She will also unveil the cover of two publications titled ‘Secret Documents’ (Vol i-ix) and ‘Mujib & Introduction’ and inaugurate an art exhibition titled “Bangabandhu and Britain: A Centenary Collection”.
On November 7, she will inaugurate the newly-expanded portion of Bangladesh High Commission and Bangabandhu Lounge there.
She will also attend a civic reception to be accorded to her by Bangladeshi expatriates living in the UK.
On November 9, she will leave London for Paris at 8am (local time) by a VVIP flight of Biman. It will land at De Gaulle International Airport at 11:15am (local time).
Read: Identify new market trends to diversify export: Hasina
Bangladesh Ambassador Khandaker Mohammad Talha will welcome her at the airport.
She will have a meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron at Elysee Palace and witness the signing of three MoUs/TCA/TA, and attend a joint press conference before joining lunch to be hosted by the French President. She will be given guard of honour there.
The Prime Minister will also have a bilateral meeting with French Prime Minister Jean Castex.
On November 10, Airbus CEO Guillaume Faury and Dassault Aviation president Eric Trappier, Thales president Patrice Caine will meet her at her place.
She will have a meeting with a delegation of French business organisation MEDEF. French Minister Florence Parly will also meet her.
Later in the afternoon, she will visit the French Senate where she will receive official reception during the ongoing Senate Session.
On November 11, Sheikh Hasina will attend the Paris Peace Forum.
Later, she will go to attend the “Unesco-Bangladesh Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman International Prize for the Creative Economy” awarding ceremony at the Unesco Headquarters.
From there she will go to Elysee Palace to attend the dinner to be hosted by French President Emmanuel Macron in honour of her.
On November 12, Sheikh Hasina will go to the Paris Peace Forum and attend a high-level panel discussion on South-South and Triangular Cooperation.
Later, she will go to the Unesco Headquarters to attend the inaugural session of the 75th Founding anniversary of Unesco where she will deliver her speech.
She will participate in the dinner to be hosted by Unesco Director General Audrey Azoulay in honour of heads of government and state.
On November 13, Sheikh Hasina will attend a civic reception to be accorded to her by the expatriate Bangladeshis living there.
In the afternoon, she will depart De Gaulle International Airport by a VVIP flight of Biman and land at Hazrat Shahjalal Airport at 10 am (local time) on November 14.
PM’s France visit to elevate Dhaka-Paris ties: FM
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will pay a visit to Paris, France from November 9 to 13 which Dhaka says will be a very “extensive and engaging” one and take the relations between the two countries to a newer height.
She will have bilateral meetings with French President Emmanuel Macron and Prime Minister Jean Castex separately during the visit.
“Both the French President and the Prime Minister invited our Prime Minister to visit France,” Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen told reporters at a media briefing at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Saturday.
Also read: Doraiswami lauds Hasina’s leadership in realizing Bangabandhu’s dream of Sonar Bangla
State Minister for Foreign Affairs Md. Shahriar Alam said the Prime Minister’s engagement in Paris will be very extensive and she will be given guard of honour in three places.
Doraiswami lauds Hasina’s leadership in realizing Bangabandhu’s dream of Sonar Bangla
Indian High Commissioner to Bangladesh Vikram K. Doraiswami on Friday said Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s dream of a Sonar Bangla would be realized where every citizen lives a free, happy, healthy and prosperous life.
“I hope with your support and with the capacity of both sides to cooperate together, the vision of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina for a Sonar Bangla for realising the dreams of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman of a Bangladesh (will be materialised) where every citizen lives a free, happy, healthy and prosperous life,” he said.
The high commissioner was addressing a function at Akhaura where Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Anisul Huq joined as the chief guest. Foreign Secretary Masud Bin Momen was also present as a special guest.
Read: Bangabandhu’s legacy clearly reflected in Hasina’s leadership: Modi
Earlier in the day Doraiswami handed over two life support ambulances to the 250-bed General Hospital, Brahmanbaria and Upazila Health Complex, Akhaura respectively.