UN chief lauds Bangladesh’s Covid efforts
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has highly applauded Bangladesh's tremendous efforts in mitigating the health and socio-economic consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic.
He said this during a virtual meeting with Bangladesh Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen on Thursday.
Referring to Bangladesh's past successes in disaster management, the UN chief said, in view of Bangladesh's ranking as a global leader in risk mitigation, he was not surprised to see such an accomplishment.
He expressed admiration for Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, especially for her strong commitment to the people of Bangladesh, said the foreign ministry yesterday.
They also agreed that Covid-19 vaccination should be treated as "global public good".
The secretary-general highly appreciated Bangladesh's generosity in giving shelter to the Rohingyas and reiterated that the return of refugees to Myanmar is their common objective.
Guterres said the UN stands ready to support Bangladesh in resolving the crisis.
Momen apprised the UN chief of the measures taken by the government in Bhasan Char and sought the UN's support for humanitarian assistance there for the Rohingyas.
Appreciating Guterres' strong commitment to climate action, the foreign minister welcomed his call to mobilise climate financing. The minister said Bangladesh as the current CVF president would continue to work together with the UN to achieve climate ambition and build resilience in preparation for the COP 26 in Glasgow this year.
The UN secretary-general said he would be pursuing the donors to allocate 50 percent of the proposed climate funds for adaptation strategies.
He termed Bangladesh's enormous adaptation efforts on the coastal region and managing rivers remarkable efforts.
Expressing satisfaction that Bangladesh is going to graduate from the Least Developed Country category, the minister requested the UN chief to use his good offices to convince development partners and IFIs to incentivise the graduating countries with new support mechanisms even after graduation.
Momen discussed the issues of the twin celebration of the birth centenary of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and the Golden Jubilee of Bangladesh's independence, peacekeeping, LDC issues and the secretary-general's reelection bid.
He invited Guterres to participate in the celebration of the Mujib Year and the Golden Jubilee of Bangladesh's independence.
Permanent Representative of Bangladesh to the UN in New York Ambassador Rabab Fatima was present during the meeting.
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