<div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">Chief Adviser Prof Muhammad Yunus is set to leave Dhaka on September 23 to attend the 79th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York which is seen as a big opportunity for him to share his government’s priorities following the student-led mass uprising, and economic plans including which areas specifically the international community can be helpful in strengthening and stabilizing Bangladesh’s economy.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The first day of the high-level General Debate will be held on Tuesday, September 24.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">“The Chief Adviser will stay three days in New York and he will leave New York on September 27,” Foreign Adviser Md Touhid Hossain told reporters on Saturday at a media briefing at Foreign Service Academy. He said the Chief Adviser will go to New York on a commercial flight.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">He said the Chief Adviser will go to New York on a commercial flight. The Chief Adviser will deliver his speech on September 27, said the Foreign Adviser.&nbsp;</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Foreign Secretary Md Jashim Uddin and Director General (East Asia &amp; Pacific Wing) Toufique Hasan were also present at the briefing.&nbsp;</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">With a packed 3-day schedule, Chief Adviser Yunus to deliver speech at UNGA on Sept 27&nbsp;</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Hossain said a major political changeover has taken place in Bangladesh and they want to let people know so that no confusion remains regarding what happened in Bangladesh. He said Prof Yunus is highly respected globally and all countries will take his remarks seriously.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Hossain said he will go to New York by a separate commercial flight two days prior to Chief Adviser's arrival in New York.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Asked about any possibility to have a meeting with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Foreign Adviser said it seems there is no possibility as Modi is going there a bit early while Chief Adviser Yunus is going there a bit late.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The Chief Adviser will have meetings—bilateral and call on—with prime ministers of the Netherlands, Pakistan, Nepal and the President of the European Union, US Secretary of State, UN Secretary-General, UN Human Rights chief, the World Bank President, and USAID Administrator, said the Foreign Adviser.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The Foreign Adviser, however, said he will have a bilateral meeting with Indian External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on the sidelines.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Hossain said reforms and human rights will be highlighted and the government will continue to make commitments to take steps on human rights issues.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"I can't justify why there were large delegations in the past. But the current government wants to avoid unnecessary expenses," he said.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The Foreign Adviser said, this time the delegation will have 57 members, and a big number of them are security personnel. On previous occasions, the Bangladesh delegation was varied between 300 and 100 plus.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Hossain said only those with direct responsibilities at the UNGA will accompany the Chief Adviser.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Bangladesh will host a high-level reception on September 24 marking 50 years of Bangladesh’s UN membership.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The theme of the General Debate is "Leaving no one behind: Acting together for the advancement of peace, sustainable development and human dignity for present and future generations."</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">South Asian affairs expert Michael Kugelman previously said Prof Yunus’ participation at the 79th UN General Assembly (UNGA) will be a big opportunity for him to share his government’s economic plans, including which areas specifically the international community can be helpful in strengthening and stabilizing Bangladesh's economy.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">“He would be speaking in New York on the biggest global platform since he took over the role of adviser leading the interim government,” said Kugelman, Director of the South Asia Institute at Wilson Center in Washington, D.C.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Kugelman said there are several things that Prof Yunus could do, several things that he could say.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">“I think that above all he should lay out a vision for governance, the goals of the interim government, his plans for reforms and his efforts to push for the restoration of democracy.”</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Kugelman said he thinks that Prof Yunus’ platform at the UNGA would give him an opportunity to weigh in on what is arguably Bangladesh's biggest humanitarian challenge, the Rohingya refugee issue.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">“I think that it would be useful for him to make a pitch for international assistance or more international assistance for Rohingya refugees, which would be an especially important pitch for two reasons,” he said.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The 79th session of the UN General Assembly (UNGA 79) opened on September 10.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Meanwhile, the heads of states and governments will gather at UN Headquarters in New York on September 22-23 to address the critical challenges and gaps in global governance exposed by recent global shocks.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The Summit of the Future, the first of its kind, will bring together leaders, advocates, and activists of all ages to determine how our international system can better meet the needs of current and future generations.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Countries must use a once-in-a-generation UN summit to address current and emerging global challenges and reform outdated international institutions, Secretary-General António Guterres said in New York.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Guterres was speaking as negotiations for the Summit of the Future, which opens at UN Headquarters on Sunday, enter the final stretch.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">“I have one overriding message today: an appeal to Member States for a spirit of compromise. Show the world what we can do, when we work together,” he said.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">‘An essential first step’</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The two-day Summit of the Future is “an essential first step towards making global institutions more legitimate, effective, and fit for the world of today and tomorrow,” Guterres told journalists.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">He said work already done in the lead-up reveals “potential breakthroughs on a number of important fronts”.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">This includes “the strongest language on Security Council reform in a generation—and the most concrete step towards Council enlargement since 1963,” the first-ever governance measures for Artificial Intelligence (AI) and other technologies, and advancements in reforming the international financial architecture.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Other items cover financing for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and commitment to advance an SDG Stimulus to boost financial support to developing countries.&nbsp;&nbsp;</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">“It would be tragic if all of these would be lost,” he warned.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Challenges, crises and conflict</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Guterres said the Summit is “so critical” because “international challenges are moving faster than our ability to solve them.”</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">He pointed to “out-of-control geo-political divisions and runaway conflicts – not least in Ukraine, Gaza, Sudan and beyond,” in addition to “runaway” climate change, inequalities and debt, and the development of AI and other technologies that lack guidance or guardrails.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">“Crises are interacting and feeding off each other – for example, as digital technologies spread climate disinformation that deepens distrust and fuels polarization,” he said.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Reform multilateral institutions</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Meanwhile, multilateral institutions “born in a bygone era for a bygone world” simply cannot keep up.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Guterres said so many of the challenges the world is facing today were not on the radar 80 years ago when these institutions were created.&nbsp;&nbsp;</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">“Our founders understood that times would change,” he said.&nbsp; “They understood that the values that underpin our global institutions are timeless – but the institutions themselves cannot be frozen in time.”</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">An ever-changing world</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">He said the peacebuilders back then could not have predicted the changes that have occurred over the past eight decades.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">They include the independence movements, the economic and geopolitical rise of many developing countries, catastrophic climate consequences, space exploration, and the development of the Internet, smartphones and social media, which are boosted by AI.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">“Like our founders, we cannot know precisely what the future holds,” he acknowledged.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">“But we don’t need a crystal ball to see that 21st century challenges require problem-solving mechanisms that are more effective, networked and inclusive; that serious power imbalances in global institutions must be adjusted and updated; and that our institutions must draw on the expertise and representation of all of humanity.”</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Although change will not happen overnight, “it can start today,” he insisted.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Finish the job</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Member States attending the Summit are expected to adopt a Pact for the Future, with a Global Digital Compact and Declaration on Future Generations annexed to it.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Guterres expressed hope that they will “do everything possible” to get these documents “over the finish line”.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">“We can’t create a future fit for our grandchildren with systems built for our grandparents,” he said, stressing that the Summit “cannot fail”.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">World leaders</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">More than 130 Heads of State and Government are scheduled to attend the Summit of the Future, which is taking place from 22-23 September - just ahead of the annual debate in the UN General Assembly.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The Summit will be preceded by two “action days” where non-governmental organizations (NGOs), academics and private sector representatives will engage on the main themes.&nbsp; UNB</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">bnbd24/kh</div>