UN General Assembly (UNGA) has unanimously adopted the historic resolution on the graduation of Bangladesh from the LDC category, recognizing the country’s remarkable development journey.  With the adoption of this resolution, Bangladesh completes all the procedures to graduate from the LDC category. This is a landmark achievement in Bangladesh’s development journey, which coincides with the celebration of the 50th anniversary of Bangladesh’s independence and the birth centenary of the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.  Read: PM briefs President Hamid about her UNGA visit "What better way to celebrate the 50th anniversary of our independence and birth centenary of Bangabandhu! Fulfillment of national aspiration and Prime Minister's vision 2021," Bangladesh's Permanent Representative to the United Nations Ambassador Rabab Fatima tweeted on Wednesday.  Speaking after the adoption of this landmark resolution, she thanked all the Member States, especially the development partners, for their support to reach consensus for the adoption of this resolution.  “Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina envisioned transforming Bangladesh into a middle-income country by 2021 and a developed country by 2041. She has led us from the front in this exciting journey despite the unprecedented challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic," said the Ambassador.

Permanent Representative of Bangladesh to the United Nations Ambassador Rabab Fatima has said social and political exclusion of Rohingya minorities in Myanmar has blown into a crisis with serious humanitarian and security ramifications for the region. “Addressing the root causes of conflicts is critical for breaking the cycle of recurring violence,” she said while addressing the Security Council High-Level Open Debate titled “Maintaining international peace and security: exclusion, inequality and conflict” on Tuesday. Read: Bangladesh deeply committed to human rights, fundamental freedoms: Rabab Fatima The open debate was convened by the delegation of Mexico, the current President of the Security Council, to deliberate on the possible role of Security Council in addressing inequalities, exclusion and conflict. The President of Mexico chaired the open debate. At the meeting, the Bangladesh Ambassador underscored that the underlying factors of conflicts may vary across economic, political, and cultural spectrums. As such, she said, there must be a whole of UN approach for encouraging a nationally-driven and multi-stakeholder solution towards durable peace. The Ambassador stated that the Security Council has a critical role to play in mitigating inequalities and exclusion when they lead to international or regional conflicts. In the context of maintaining international peace, Ambassador Fatima said the UN peace operations and special political missions can bring a great strength to preventive diplomacy because they have the firsthand information from the field, which can strengthen early warning systems against any impending crisis. Read: Rabab Fatima calls for international solidarity against terrorism Ambassador Fatima recommended that the Council should invest more in implementing the WPS and YPS agendas in order to ensure inclusion. She emphasized upholding the rule of law at the global level and in this regard recognized the role of the International Court of Justice, and other international legal bodies and tribunals. “It’s imperative that the Council demonstrates its firm commitment in upholding the sanctity of ICJ and other legal bodies,” she said.

Bangladesh has praised UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres for his leadership  in guiding the global efforts to address the challenges of pandemic especially in conflict situations.   "Your appeal has had important salutary effect on many conflict situations, yet, many are not paying heed and some are applying it selectively," Permanent Representative of Bangladesh to the United Nations Ambassador Rabab Fatima.   In her conversation with the Secretary-General, Ambassador Fatima shared Bangladesh’s contribution to maintenance of international peace and security particularly through peacekeeping.   Bangladesh PR along with PRs of nine other co-initiators (Ecuador, Egypt, Jamaica, Japan, Malaysia, Oman, Senegal, Slovenia, and Sweden) of the joint statement of "Support to the Secretary-General’s Appeal for Global Ceasefire" virtually met António Guterres on Monday to officially hand over the statement, which was released on 22 June 2020.   "This joint statement, along with the Security Council Resolution 2532, among others, would strengthen your good offices role for bringing immediate end to hostilities in all conflict situations," said Ambassador Fatima.   The statement, which received the overwhelming endorsement by 172 UN Member States, Non-Member Observer States and Observers, was the strongest yet political support that the Appeal has received so far.   It sends a strong and clear message of solidarity and compassion with those impacted by the hostilities amid the COVID-19 pandemic, said the Bangladesh Mission in the UN on Tuesday.     In his response, the UN Secretary-General termed the joint statement as ‘one of the best and most important endorsements to his Appeal in the UN’ and thanked all the co-initiators for this.   While referring to some significant and successful impacts of the Appeal, he also admitted that much more remains to be done and implementation remains the key.   Guterres stressed the importance of continued global solidarity and its expansion to other areas.   This sentiment was also shared by the co-initiators.   The appeal has been the high point of Secretary-General’s efforts in garnering political support for pandemic response. Bangladesh was also among the first rank of countries to have endorsed the Appeal once earlier through another platform when it was made on 23 March.