PM to co-chair peace keeping summit

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will co-chair a US organised peacekeeping summit on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly on Sep 26.

Senior Correspondentbdnews24.com

Published : 17 Sept 2014, 07:59 AM

Updated : 17 Sept 2014, 09:03 AM

Foreign Minister Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali on Wednesday said she would co-chair the summit with the US vice-president Joe Biden, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, and Rwanda President Paul Kagame.

File Photo

Briefing journalists ahead of the general assembly, Ali said the US had invited the Prime Minister to co-chair the event , praising her “personal commitment to the peace and development and Bangladesh’s contribution to the UN peacekeeping”.

Ali said this marks a diplomatic success for Bangladesh.

Hasina will leave Dhaka for New York to attend the UN general assembly on Sep 21 and a series of high-level meetings until Sep 28.

This is the first UN general assembly session after Hasina's Awami League returned to power in the Jan 5 elections and last one before the adoption of the post-2015 development agenda.

The foreign minister said a number of ministers including finance, health, expatriate welfare, forest and environment and food would join the PM’s 50-member “government delegation”.

The assembly will witness a tough debate on the proposed sustainable development goals (SDGs) which will come into force after 2015 when MDGs expire.

The foreign minister said they were expecting bilateral meetings with the leaders of India, Nepal, Chile, Qatar, and Belarus.

He said the schedule for these meetings were being finalised.

However, Bangladesh’s Permanent Representative to the UN AK Abdul Momen earlier told bdnews24.com that Hasina would meet her Indian counterpart Narendra Modi on Sep 27.

The foreign minister said he would also attend ministerial meetings of the regional and international organisations including SAARC, OIC, NAAM, and G-77 on the sidelines.

The Prime Minister will deliver a speech at the general assembly on Sep 27. Ali said she will speak in Bangla as usual.

He said they were expecting that the PM would highlight issues of global peace and security, democracy and good governance, women empowerment, migrant workers rights, and government’s steps on poverty reduction and climate change adaptation programmes.

He said the PM would also present Bangladesh’s position on the post-MDGs goals during her speech.

Bangladesh has been active in the process of formulating the SDGs. Dhaka co-hosted two international meetings on migration and population during the process.

The junior foreign minister M Shahriar Alam said in the general assembly debate Bangladesh would highlight the fact that developed nations had failed to live up to their promise in aiding countries during MDGs.

The PM will attend ‘Climate Summit 2014’ at the invitation of the UN Secretary General Ban ki-Moon.

On Sep 24 she will attend Secretary General’s Global Education First Initiative’s (GEFI) meeting on quality of education for the world.

In this meeting Hasina would highlight Bangladesh’s measures for women education.

She will attend an event at the Bangladesh’s Permanent Mission at the UN organised event marking Bangladesh’s 40 years of UN membership on Sep 26.

On Sep 27, she would speak at New York central park on Global Citizen Festival 2014 where she would call international community to join Bangladesh’s efforts to make a hunger, poverty, and illiteracy free country.

Hasina will also attend two separate events of the UN Secretary-General and US President Barack Obama.

She will also attend US Chamber and US Business Council organised meeting where she will try to attract business and investment for Bangladesh.

The foreign minister said the PM’s presence at the high-level meetings would “consolidate” Bangladesh’s image in the world.

He said it would also help upholding Bangladesh’s success stories across the world.