Foreign-Affairs
Bangladesh, Mexican Cultural Ministries sign MoU on cultural cooperation
State Minister for Cultural Affairs K M Khalid and the Secretary of Culture, government of Mexico, Alejandra Frausto Guerrero have signed a Memorandum of Understanding on cultural cooperation between the two friendly nations at Los Pinos in Mexico City.
The bilateral relationship between Bangladesh and Mexico entered a new phase by signing this bilateral instrument, Bangladesh said on Saturday.
From the Mexican side, the Director General of the Secretary of Culture Dr. Pablo Raphael de la Madrid, Legal Adviser Erendira Cruzvillegas, and other officials from the Ministry of Culture were present at the signing ceremony held on Friday.
Ambassador of Bangladesh to the United Mexican States Abida Islam and Counsellor Shahanaj Akhter Ranu from the Bangladesh side were also present to witness the event.
This MoU intends to facilitate the establishment of direct communications between the libraries, museums, archives, and departments of both countries dedicated to the conservation and restoration of historical and cultural monuments.
It will promote the exchanges of exhibitions, experts and delegations of traditional painters and artisans, art critics, specialists in traditional folk arts, folklore, audiovisual producers, and other areas of the arts, such as music, visual arts, cinematography, conservation and restoration of material and archaeological heritage, and museology.
It will also foster translation of literature, cultural cooperation in the fields of performing, visual and literary arts, as well as participation in festivals, book fairs and other cultural events held in each other’s countries.
Hasina invites MBS to visit Bangladesh
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has invited Saudi Crown Prince and newly appointed Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud to visit Bangladesh.
Bangladesh Ambassador to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) Mohammad Javed Patwary handed over the invitation letter to Waleed bin Abdulkarim Al-khuraiji, Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of KSA, at the latter’s office on Friday.
In the letter, PM Hasina talked about the strong bilateral relations between the two brotherly states and hoped that the support of the two countries in different sectors will increase in the coming days.
Read: Pakistani PM invites Hasina to visit Islamabad
While giving the letter, Ambassador Patwary discussed many issues with Waleed, including continuation of views exchange and co-operation in bilateral relations, supporting each other in the international organizations and accelerating trade and investments between the two nations.
Ambassador Patwari also congratulated the Crown Prince for becoming the Prime Minister of Saudi Arabia.
"Older women themselves are the best advocates for their own needs, concerns and rights"
Claudia Mahler, Independent Expert on the enjoyment of all human rights by older persons, on Friday said States should ensure that older women are counted and visible.
"I urge States to identify and integrate the specific needs of older women into the planning, response and recovery stages of emergency and humanitarian action as well as in climate change, disaster risk reduction measures and peacebuilding," she said ahead of the International Day of Older Persons that falls on October 1.
"States should include older women in all relevant policy design, implementation and monitoring and take the necessary steps to ensure older women have access to information on legislation, policies and services that affect their lives in order to be able to make informed decisions and participate meaningfully.”
Her call was endorsed by Melissa Upreti (Chair), Dorothy Estrada Tanck (Vice-Chair), Elizabeth Broderick, Ivana Radačić, and Meskerem Geset Techane, Working Group on discrimination against women and girls; Reem Alsalem, Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences; Gerard Quinn, Special Rapporteur on the rights of persons with disabilities; and Francisco Cali Tzay, Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples.
The cumulative disadvantages of lower labour force participation, the gender pay gap, interrupted employment patterns due to caregiving, and higher prevalence of part-time and informal work means that older women often receive lower or no pensions, said the UN expert.
"Additionally, many older women are excluded from acquiring, accumulating and controlling assets and property over their life-course, including due to discriminatory inheritance regimes and practices," she said.
Such disadvantages are exacerbated in crises and emergencies as well, both due to climate change, conflict or the Covid 19 pandemic, with the multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination intensified during such situations. In emergencies, older women who might be viewed as a burden, become even more vulnerable to abuse and neglect, said Mahler.
Despite such disadvantages and the heightened risks older women face during emergencies, they often continue to provide intergenerational support and caregiving while also contributing to household income, said the UN expert.
They also play important roles in peacebuilding and conflict resolution as carriers of pre-conflict narratives and experiences of shared living, countering extremist nationalist tendencies, preventing radicalisation and acting as repositories of knowledge about community dynamics, she said.
The intergenerational role of older women, as well as their extraordinary resilience in supporting and caring for others while dealing with economic adversity, is common but often overlooked.
Indigenous older women in particular are recognised for the important role they play as knowledge keepers of the indigenous communities, as well as on natural and environmentally sustainable practices that safeguard ecosystems.
"Older women themselves are the best advocates for their own needs, concerns and rights," said Mahler.
Making the perspectives of older women visible and recognising their essential contribution to society helps to combat harmful and prejudicial gender stereotyping as required under international human rights law, she added.
Australian envoy reflects on Australians', Bangladeshis' mutual love for cricket
Australian High Commissioner to Bangladesh Jeremy Bruer and a large group of well-wishers have farewelled the Men’s National Cricket Team before they departed to compete in the ICC T20 Cricket World Cup 2022 in Australia.
Speaking at the event at his residence on Thursday, the high commissioner reflected on Australians’ and Bangladeshis’ mutual love of cricket.
He said it was fitting the Bangladesh team was visiting Australia during the year-long celebrations of 50 years of diplomatic relations between the two countries.
Read: Bangladesh a country with international outlook: Australian envoy
Keen to strengthen relations with Bangladesh: Indonesian Ambassador
The Embassy of the Republic of Indonesia in Dhaka celebrated its 77th Independence Day on Thursday evening demonstrating an enhanced partnership between Bangladesh and Indonesia.
Indonesian Ambassador to Bangladesh Heru Hartanto Subolo welcomed guests from Bangladesh government, diplomatic corps, political figures, nilitary officers, international organizations, businessmen, and academicians as well as journalists.
Ambassador Heru highlighted that this year marks the 50-years of diplomatic relations between Indonesia and Bangladesh.
Read:“Sadly, Rohingya repatriation doesn’t look likely any time soon”
He said his country is committed to strengthening the friendly relations with Bangladesh in many aspects, especially in bilateral trade and cooperation in more comprehensive sectors.
He also touched on Indonesia's roles in ASEAN and Indonesia’s presidency at the G20.
Information and Broadcasting Hasan Mahmud was present as the guest of honour at the event.
He applauded the strong bonding and partnership that goes beyond its current relations ranging from partners in the United Nations and various multilateral organisations, particularly in the Developing 8 Countries, the Non-Aligned Movement, the World Trade Organization and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation and other international fora.
He also hoped for Indonesia’s bigger role in supporting efforts in sending Rohinggyas back to their country.
"We need to invest in transformation of food systems, adaptation to climate change"
Development finance expert Alvaro Lario takes the helm of the UN’s International Fund for Agricultural Development on Saturday with an urgent mission to battle poverty and hunger among the world’s rural poor as they face existential threats of climate change and food insecurity.
Lario, a Spanish national who has served as IFAD’s chief financial officer since 2018, has led efforts to harness private sector investment to boost the resilience of millions of small-scale farmers and rural communities who are among those most affected by global shocks.
“Our mission has never been more urgent as food insecurity, climate change and conflict threaten the lives and livelihoods of the world’s rural poor,” he said.
“But our power to shape the future has never been greater, if we muster the commitment and resources to make lasting change.”
Lario remains committed to IFAD’s goal to double its impact on poor rural communities by 2030.
This will be done in part by driving forward climate change adaptation as a priority for the Fund, according to a message received here from Rome on Friday.
Poor small-scale farmers produce one-third of the world’s food, but receive less than two percent of climate finance and are the least able to adapt to changing circumstances like drought, extreme weather and crop failure.
“We keep moving from crisis to crisis, focusing on immediate relief. But if we want to avoid winding up in the same place again five years from now, we need to invest in the medium term -- and this means nothing less than the transformation of food systems, and adaptation to climate change,” he said.
Read: Bangladesh, Japan, IFAD partner to bring smallholder farmers closer to international markets
“This won’t be done by governments and the UN alone. This is a shared, global challenge for public and private sectors alike since we can all share the benefits of food security and global stability, just as we will all suffer together should we fail to act.”
IFAD, a UN specialized agency which is also an international finance institution, is the only global development agency exclusively dedicated to transforming agriculture, rural economies and food systems by making them more inclusive, productive, resilient and sustainable.
Since 1978, the Fund has invested more than US$23 billion in low-interest loans and grants, reaching more than a half-billion people through projects that increase food security and food production, improve nutrition and build resilience in the world’s poorest and most marginalized rural communities.
In 2020, as both CFO and Associate Vice-President for financial operations, Lario set out to mobilize greater resources for the Fund by enlisting private sector investment.
Under his stewardship, IFAD became the first UN fund to receive a public credit rating.
That A++ rating, through Fitch agency, has enabled IFAD to secure private sector investment, with two initial private-placement bonds in 2022 totalling US$150 million, and more to come.
Lario will serve a four-year term from 1st October, taking over from Gilbert F. Houngbo, a former Togolese prime minister who has become the head of the UN’s International Labor Organization.
Lario has a PhD in financial economics from Complutense University in his native Spain, and a master’s degree in finance from Princeton University. Previous to the Fund, he worked for more than six years in the International Finance Corporation of the World Bank group, and also in various roles in the private sector asset management industry and academia.
Japan honours Dr Ekhlasur with Order of the Rising Sun
The government of Japan Thursday conferred "The Order of the Rising Sun, Gold and Silver Rays" award to Dr Md Ekhlasur Rahman.
Dr Ekhlasur, director of Yamagata Dhaka Friendship General Hospital, received the award at the official residence of Ito Naoki, ambassador of Japan to Bangladesh, for supporting Japanese nationals in need of medical care in Bangladesh and for his contribution to strengthening Bangladesh-Japan ties in the medical field.
He is the 14th Bangladeshi national and the first doctor in the country to receive the decoration from the government of Japan.
Ambassador Naoki expressed his gratitude to Dr Ekhlasur for proactively providing medical service with Japanese standards and treatment to the country's nationals in Bangladesh.
"The 300-year-old Japanese Edo period dictums 'medicine is a curing profession' and 'medical practice is a benevolent act' exactly describe Dr Rahman," he said.
Dr Ekhlasur completed his PhD at Yamagata University Graduate School of Medicine in 1996 and worked as a clinical fellow at Yamagata Saiseikai Hospital in Japan.
Benazir to get police protection during post-retirement leave
The government has announced post-retirement leave security plans for outgoing inspector general of police (IGP) Benazir Ahmed.
Benazir, who went into the police as an assistant superintendent in 1988, formally goes into retirement Friday.
His security team will include two armed and uniformed bodyguards who will work on a full-time basis.
Also, plainclothes personnel will escort Benazir in a separate vehicle, the home ministry said. "To ensure round-the-clock security for the outgoing IGP, there will be three guards at his residence."
Benazir became the chief of police in April 2020 after serving as the director general of Rapid Action Battalion for two and a half years.
British national found dead in city hotel
A 60-year-old British national was found dead at a hotel in the capital’s Uttara area on Thursday, said police.
The deceased was identified as Finlayson Dugald, who came to Bangladesh with a tourist visa and had been staying in ‘Marino Hotel’ in Sector No 4 on Road No 11 since September 20.
Hotel staff said Dugald’s Chinese friend Dong Hao Peng knocked the door of his room but received no response around 10am.
Later, the door of the room No 108 was unlocked with a duplicate key and his body was found lying in the bathroom, they said .
Read: Young couple found dead at Mohammadpur flat
Md Mamunur Rahman, sub-inspector of Uttara East Police Station, said on information they rushed to the spot and sent the body to Dhaka Medical College Hospital morgue for an autopsy.
The foreigner might have died of sickness but the exact reason will be known after the postmortem, he said.
“Sadly, Rohingya repatriation doesn’t look likely any time soon”
US Ambassador to Bangladesh Peter Haas today said conditions in Myanmar, especially after recent incidents, unfortunately do not allow for a safe, voluntary, dignified or sustainable return of the Rohingyas to their place of origin in Rakhine State.
“Sadly, it does not look like they will any time soon,” he said while speaking at the “Meet the Ambassador” event organised by the Centre for Governance Studies (CGS) in collaboration with Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES) Bangladesh at a Dhaka hotel.
Representatives of political parties, academics, former diplomats and business leaders were present at the event.
Also read: 'Meta must pay': Facebook algorithms fuelled anti-Rohingya atrocities, says Amnesty
CGS Chairman and chairman of the National River Protection Commission Manjur A Chowdhury, Resident Representatives of FES Bangladesh Felix Kobiz also spoke while the conversation was moderated by CGS Executive Director of CGS Zillur Rahman.
The ambassador said the United States is ready to work with Bangladesh to transition from an emergency response to a more sustainable one.
“We want to work with the government of Bangladesh and the rest of the international donor community to provide the refugees with better access to education, better opportunities to earn a livelihood, and greater security within the camps,” he said.
He said Bangladesh meets international standards for humanitarian protection of the Rohingya refugees and continues to host them until a safe, voluntary, and dignified return to Myanmar is possible.
Haas mentioned that they recently passed a sobering milestone – the five-year anniversary of genocide and crimes against humanity against Rohingyas and their exodus from Myanmar to Bangladesh.
During this time, he said, Bangladesh has shown incredible generosity and compassion in welcoming them into the country and giving them shelter.
“We are aware of the financial burden this has imposed on Bangladesh,” he added.
In support of this incredible hospitality, Ambassador Haas said, the United States announced last week that they will provide an additional $170 million to support Rohingya refugees and Bangladeshi host communities.
With this new funding, US’ total assistance to the Rohingya refugee crisis has reached nearly $1.9 billion.
Also read: “Not possible for us to take any more people, Rohingyas must go back”
“We collaborated in this effort in the hope that Rohingyas would soon be able to return to their native land in a safe and dignified manner,” said ambassador Haas.
Bangladesh is now hosting over 1.1 million Rohingyas in Cox’s Bazar and Bhasan Char island.