Unite to fight grim threats

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina speaks at the 64th General Assembly at the United Nations in New York yesterday. Photo: AFP

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday called on UN member states to discard discord and adopt a common resolve in facing grim challenges of climate change, economic turmoil and terrorism.
"Let us share each other's responsibility, burden and prosperity to leave a harmonious world for our children, and future generations," she said addressing the 64th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) that began here on Wednesday.
Hasina addressed the general assembly in Bangla. Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman did the same 35 years back.
In her speech, the prime minister reminisced about Bangabandhu's 1974 address expressing gratitude to all who had supported Bangladesh's struggle for independence and declaring commitment to democracy, human rights and rule of law.
Citing the impacts of climate changes brought on by excessive greenhouse gas emissions by the developed nations, she said her country is one of the worst victims even though its contribution to global warming is negligible.
Hasina said erratic floods, cyclones, droughts and earthquakes are adversely affecting the country's agriculture and challenging water resources, health, energy and urban planning. Cyclones battering the coastal areas have particularly been taking countless lives and sudden floods uprooting families in thousands.
She said her government is taking measures to dredge major rivers, increase green belts in coastal areas and fortify embankments to cope with the rising sea level.
The prime minister described rapid and unplanned urbanisation, occupational dislocations, and food, water and land insecurity as some of the consequences of climate change.
She said the affected communities would not only lose their homes, they would also stand to lose their identity, nationality, and their very existence, and in some cases, their countries.
Stressing the need for specific commitment to deeper cuts in greenhouse emissions, she said that at the upcoming UN climate change conference in Denmark, her country would push for a new legal regime for social, cultural and economic rehabilitation of climate induced displaced people.
Supporting the recent "bold and courageous" proposal of British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, she said it caught the imagination of the frontline states of climate change.
The proposed fund, among his other proposals, for supporting the adaptation and mitigation programmes of climate change affected countries has particularly won our support, she continued.
The Copenhagen summit would need to look at his proposal seriously and must be mindful that climate change mitigation does not impose constraints on steps taken to alleviate energy poverty.
She spoke of restoration of democracy in Bangladesh through the December 29 election last year and her government's roadmap to turn the country into a digital nation by 2021.
"Universally acclaimed as free, fair and credible under the supervision of UN and international observers, the elections heralded democracy in Bangladesh."
She also fingered on several crucial national and international issues to be addressed in a combined manner to overcome the world stagflation and to tackle the threat of terrorism and rapidly changing global whether.
Hasina, however, regretted that Bangladesh could not achieve its desired development as dictators and quasi-dictators mostly ruled it after the brutal assassination of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman along with 18 of his family members on August 15, 1975.
Bangladesh, she said, is making great strides in socio- economic development including education, healthcare, employment and women empowerment food security and social safety net and gender equality at primary school level.
Her government is pledge-bound to ensure 100 percent student enrolment at primary level by 2010 to achieve full literacy by 2014.
Its main thrust is to ensure healthcare for all by reopening the 18,000 community healthcare centres across the country.
"During the previous tenure (1996-2001) of Awami League government, we formulated a national health policy whose main thrust was to ensure basic health care without discrimination," she said adding that a National Strategy for Maternal Health is also adopted providing quality services for safe motherhood.
The prime minister said a wide range of safety nets has been put in place like cash and food transfer programmes, micro-credit and other special poverty alleviation programmes, special programmes for minorities, the marginalised, disabled, physically challenged and the underprivileged people.
Her government is committed to ensure sustained food security for all enhancing people's access to food, reducing prices of essentials and increasing food production.
In the World Summit on Food Security due to be held in Rome this November, she said, Bangladesh would seek a global agreement for development of agriculture, and attainment of food self- sufficiency in developing countries, particularly LDCs.
Pointing to world economic recession, the prime minister said the economically vulnerable countries, as the LDCs, who are not responsible for this crisis, have become its worst victims.
She said Bangladesh faces sharp reduction in exports, falling prices of primary commodities, declining remittances, severe credit crunch, leading to contraction of our economic growth, rising unemployment and poverty.
This crisis has been due to years of negligence to equity and justice, including basically an unfair international financial structure that never changed with the changing needs of time.
Underscoring the importance of immediate restructuring of the global financial and economic systems, the premier said the World Bank and the IMF must accommodate stronger presence of developing countries, especially LDCs.
She said fiscal stimulus packages including liberal trade concessions by developed countries, trade capacity building to the poor and the developing countries would rescue them from dire straits.
Hasina said Bangladesh is proud of its outstanding role as a major troop contributing country serving the United Nations in maintaining peace and security worldwide.
Since 1988, she said, Bangladesh has been involved in 32 UN peacekeeping operations in 24 countries with approximately 83,000 personnel. Now Bangladesh is ranked the second with 9,567 peacekeepers in various UN missions.
She regretted that despite the contribution and sacrifice, Bangladesh does not have a proportionate representation in the Department of Peace Keeping Operations, nor does it have a say in the planning and strategies of peace keeping missions.
Hasina said as a founding member of Peace Building Commission, Bangladesh has since been contributing to its peace building activities in the strife torn parts of the world.
As a peaceful nation involved in UN peacekeeping efforts, it has taken stern measures against militant groups and their patrons at home while opposing violence and terrorism across the world.
Rejecting claims of those who cloak themselves in the rhetoric of Islam, or any other faith to justify violence, she said, "We have taken stern measures against militant groups and their patrons."
Sheikh Hasina sought support of the UNGA members for acceptance of Bangla as an official language of the United Nations.
She mentioned that parliament in Bangladesh has already adopted a resolution requesting the United Nations to declare "Bangla" one of its official languages.