Chief adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus is scheduled to arrive in New York on September 22 to attend the 80th session of the United Nations General Assembly, where he will deliver Bangladesh鈥檚 statement at the general debate on September 26.
The Bangladesh delegation to the UNGA will include four leaders from three political parties.
At a press briefing at the Bangladesh Foreign Service Academy in Dhaka on Wednesday, foreign affairs adviser Md Touhid Hossain said that the inclusion of the politicians from three different parties reflected Bangladesh鈥檚 transition towards a stage where overall administration would be handed over to political leadership.
Their participation, he noted, is a part of that process.
The leaders joining the delegation are Bangladesh Nationalist Party secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, BNP acting chairman鈥檚 foreign affairs adviser Humayun Kabir, Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami nayeb-e-amir Abdullah Mohammad Taher and National Citizen Party member secretary Akhter Hossain.
The 80th session of the UNGA opened in New York on September 9, with the high-level general debate of world leaders scheduled from September 23 to 28.
According to the foreign adviser, on September 25, the chief adviser would attend a meeting to mark the 30th anniversary of the World Programme of Action for Youth.
Professor Yunus will deliver Bangladesh鈥檚 statement at the UNGA general debate on September 26.
His address is expected to highlight the reforms carried out over the past year, the government鈥檚 commitment to holding democratic elections, and Bangladesh鈥檚 contributions to international peacekeeping.
The chief adviser is also likely to raise pressing global issues, including the Rohingya crisis, climate change and climate justice, the Sustainable Development Goals, illicit financial flows, safe migration, technology transfer in the age of artificial intelligence, and the call for peace in the Middle East, Touhid Hossain said.
On September 30, Professor Yunus will take part in a conference on the situation of Rohingya Muslims and other minorities in Myanmar.
The foreign adviser said that the event, the first of its kind at the UNGA, had originated from a proposal put forward by Bangladesh last year, which subsequently received unanimous support from member states.
He also said that the chief adviser is expected to attend several receptions and bilateral meetings, including one hosted by UN secretary general Ant贸nio Guterres and another by US president Donald Trump.
Meetings with world leaders are also on the agenda, with the schedule to be finalised closer to the dates, Touhid Hossain said.
Alongside these diplomatic engagements, Professor Yunus is expected to give interviews to leading global media outlets and participate in programmes such as NRB Connect and events organised by the Asia society.
He said that Bangladesh would also be represented at several side events during the assembly, including the Commonwealth Foreign Affairs Ministers鈥� Meeting, the Peacebuilding Commission Ministerial, the G77 and China Foreign Ministers鈥� Meeting, the Women, Peace and Security Focal Points Network, the OIC Foreign Ministers鈥� Annual Coordination Meeting, the CICA Ministerial, the BIMSTEC Foreign Ministers鈥� Meeting, and the LDC Ministerial.
Touhid said that the chief adviser would hold a series of bilateral meetings on the sidelines of the 80th UNGA in New York.
He said that the confirmed engagements included talks with the president of Finland, the prime ministers of the Netherlands and Pakistan, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, the UN secretary general, the president of the World Bank, and the managing director of the International Monetary Fund.
The foreign adviser also said that preparations were underway for meetings with leaders of delegations from Italy, Turkey, South Korea, Indonesia, Thailand, Kosovo and other countries, and that the final schedule was still being worked out, with more meetings potentially being added while some already planned could be dropped depending on circumstances.
Chief adviser鈥檚 press secretary Shafiqul Alam, deputy press secretary Mohammad Abul Kalam Azad Majumder, and senior assistant press secretary Foyez Ahmad were also present at the briefing.
