President Abdul Hamid on Saturday urged the world leaders to work for ending discriminations based on race, faith, colour, religion and ethnicity and ensuring equal opportunities for all.

"We must end discriminations based on race, faith, colour, religion and ethnicity, and ensure equal opportunities for all," he said.

President Hamid made the call while inaugurating the “World Peace Conference-2021” that has brought together global thinkers, writers, poets, singers and political personalities, aiming to promote a culture of peace and tolerance.

“The maintenance of peace and harmony is an essential element of everybody’s life. We all know peace is a public concept of harmony, friendship and the absence of conflict. Peace guarantees freedom from violence or fear between individuals or groups,” said the President.

 “A fair international system is also essential for all peoples of the world. We shouldn’t forget that we live in a shared planet and we’ve shared responsibilities, too,” he said.

Hamid said Bangladesh believes that peace around the world is the best guarantee for our national security following the constitutional obligations.

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"We’ll continue our efforts to resolve conflicts through peaceful means and promote peace across the globe,” he added.

He urged all to leave aside the path of divisions, join hands and walk together on the path of peace.

Immediately after Bangladesh’s independence, Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, who was a fervent advocate of peace, introduced a constitution that guarantees the basic human rights of all its citizens, and ensures the promotion of international peace, security, and solidarity, said President Hamid.

Bangabandhu’s guiding principle of “friendship to all, malice towards none” defined and set the bedrock of Bangladesh’s foreign policy, he added.

The President said the world is facing numerous challenges and conflicts and the Covid-19 pandemic exposed the weakness of our systems.

"Unless we’re united and ensure mutual peace and harmony, we won’t be able to secure a safe and habitable world for our children and future generations which is already grappling with adverse effects of climate change," Hamid said.

He also highlighted how global inequities and injustices are the real threats to international peace.

Former UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon sent a pre-recorded video message and called upon all to prioritize peace, sustainability and inclusion for a brighter future for all.

He laid emphasis on joint efforts to fight against Covid-19 pandemic and called for equal sharing of vaccines.

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Chair of the Organizing Committee of the World Peace Conference Speaker Dr Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury, Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen, former Indian Minister of Civil Aviation, Railways, Commerce & Industry Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu, Chairman World Islamic Economic Forum Foundation, and former Minister of Malaysia Dr Syed Hamid Albar, State Minister for Foreign Affairs Md Shahriar Alam and Foreign Secretary Masud Bin Momen also spoke at the event.

Prime minister Sheikh Hasina will virtually attend the closing ceremony of the two-day conference on Sunday.

On the occasion of 50 years of Independence and the birth centenary of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Bangladesh celebrates five decades of its peace-centric diplomacy aimed at promoting sustainable development, fundamental rights and freedoms, and social justice and inclusion.

Bangladesh is hosting the World Peace Conference as part of its celebrations of the Mujib Year, the birth centenary of the Father of the Nation and the Golden Jubilee of its Independence.

The idea of holding the conference is to let the world feel that peace has to be cherished in multifarious ways, perceiving that the invaluable contributions of the global pioneers are universal, and that peace will be sustainable only through social justice, equity and inclusiveness.