UNESCO did not give Yunus 'Tree of Peace' award: education minister

Education Minister Mohibul Hassan Chowdhoury today said that UNESCO did not give Nobel Laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus any award called "Tree of Peace".

He made this remark while speaking to reporters at the Secretariat today.

Mohibul Hassan, also the chairperson of the Bangladesh National Commission for UNESCO, said, "Dr Yunus was conferred the 'Tree of Peace' award by an Israeli sculptor, upon invitation from the Ganjavi Foundation in Azerbaijan."

The minister said that Yunus has been claiming he received the award from UNESCO, which is untrue.

The Bangladesh National Commission for UNESCO under the education ministry today issued a statement regarding reports of Yunus receiving the "Tree of Peace" from UNESCO.

The statement said, "According to several newspaper reports citing a press release from the Yunus Centre, Dr Yunus received the prize at the 11th Global Baku Forum in Azerbaijan on March 16."

However, UNESCO's Dhaka office said the UNESCO headquarters in Paris was not aware of this. There was no official UNESCO representation at the 11th Baku Forum where the award announcement was made, it said.

Moreover, the statement said the award claimed by the Yunus Centre was not any "prize or honour" affiliated with UNESCO.

The statement reads that Yunus was awarded a sculpture titled "Tree of Peace" by Israeli sculptor Hedva Ser at the invitation of the Nizami Ganjavi International Center.

"However, Hedva Ser, a UNESCO goodwill ambassador for cultural diplomacy, confirmed that UNESCO was not involved in granting the 'Tree of Peace' award to Dr Muhammad Yunus.

"Hedva Ser is not an official UNESCO representative and has no authority to confer UNESCO prizes or honours."

Therefore, the Bangladesh National Commission for UNESCO denounced the press release from the Yunus Centre as "motivated" and "fraudulent".

The statement said that an explanation would be sought regarding why legal action should not be taken against Yunus Centre.