United Nations General Assembly
Tensions grow as US, allies deepen Indo-Pacific involvement
With increasingly strong talk in support of Taiwan, a new deal to supply Australia with nuclear submarines, and the launch of a European strategy for greater engagement in the Indo-Pacific, the U.S. and its allies are becoming growingly assertive in their approach toward a rising China.
China has bristled at the moves, and the growing tensions between Beijing and Washington prompted U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on the weekend to implore President Joe Biden and Chinese leader Xi Jinping to repair their “completely dysfunctional” relationship, warning they risk dividing the world.
As the U.N. General Assembly opened Tuesday, both leaders chose calming language, with Biden insisting “we are not seeking a new Cold War or a world divided into rigid blocs,” and Xi telling the forum that “China has never, and will never invade or bully others or seek hegemony.”
But the underlying issues have not changed, with China building up its military outposts as it presses its maritime claims over critical sea lanes, and the U.S. and its allies growing louder in their support of Taiwan, which China claims as part of its territory, and deepening military cooperation in the Indo-Pacific.
Read: Nuclear submarine deal to reshape Indo-Pacific relations
On Friday, Biden hosts the leaders of Japan, India and Australia for an in-person Quadrilateral Security Dialogue for broad talks including the COVID-19 pandemic and climate change, but also how to keep the Indo-Pacific, a vast region spanning from India to Australia, “free and open,” according to the White House.
It comes a week after the dramatic announcement that Australia would be dropping a contract for conventional French submarines in favor of an Anglo-American offer for nuclear-powered vessels, a bombshell that overshadowed the unveiling of the European Union’s strategy to boost political and defense ties in the Indo-Pacific.
“One thing is certain, that everyone is pivoting toward the Indo-Pacific,” said Garima Mohan, an Asia program fellow with the German Marshall Fund think tank.
As partners pursue moves that play to their own strengths and needs, however, the past week has underscored the lack of coordination as a networked security strategy develops, she said.
“Not everyone has the same threat assessment of China,” she said in a telephone interview from Berlin.
The EU policy emphasizes the need for dialogue with Beijing, to encourage “China to play its part in a peaceful and thriving Indo-Pacific region,” while at the same time proposing an “enhanced naval presence” and expanded security cooperation with regional partners.
It also notes China’s increased military buildup, and that “the display of force and increasing tensions in regional hotspots such as in the South and East China Sea, and in the Taiwan Strait, may have a direct impact on European security and prosperity.”
Germany, which has close economic ties to China, got a wake-up call last week when China rejected its request for a port call for the frigate Bavaria, which is currently conducting maneuvers in the Indo-Pacific.
“China is telling them this inclusive approach is not going to work, so in a way it’s a rude awakening for Berlin,” Mohan said. “You have to take a position, you can’t have your cake and eat it too, and if you have an Indo-Pacific strategy ... you can’t make it neutral.”
Other EU countries, most notably France, have also sent naval assets for exercises in the Indo-Pacific, and Britain has had a whole carrier strike group conducting exercises for several months as London pursues the new tilt toward the region recommended by a recent British government review of defense and foreign policy.
Read: EU stepping up its strategic engagement with Indo-Pacific region, adopts cooperation strategy
China’s Foreign Ministry said after rejecting the Bavaria’s port call that it remained “willing to carry out friendly exchanges with Germany on the basis of mutual respect and mutual trust,” but made clear it was displeased with the increased naval presence in the region.
“Individual powers... have repeatedly dispatched military aircraft and warships to the South China Sea for some time in the name of exercising freedom of navigation to flex muscle, stir up trouble and deliberately provoke conflicts on maritime issues,” spokesman Zhao Lijian said. “China’s determination to safeguard national and territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests is unwavering, and will continue to properly handle differences with the countries concerned through consultations and negotiations.”
Beijing was less reserved in its reaction to the submarine deal with Australia, under which the U.S. and Britain will help Canberra construct nuclear-powered submarines, calling it “highly irresponsible” and saying it would “seriously damage regional peace and stability.”
In signing the pact with the U.S. and Britain, Australia canceled a $66 billion deal with France for diesel-powered submarines, infuriating Paris, which recalled its ambassadors to Washington and Canberra and suggested it calls into question the entire cooperative effort to blunt China’s growing influence.
While clearly irked by the surprise deal, many observers have suggested that the vociferous reaction from France may be more directed toward a domestic audience, where President Emmanuel Macron faces a reelection bid early next year.
But there was clear disappointment that the U.S. seemed to be ignoring France’s own engagement in the region by not informing them in advance, said Laurence Nardon, an expert at the French Institute for International Relations.
“There was a way to do this while keeping Europeans in the loop,” she said. “The Indo-Pacific is important for the EU too; it’s not one or the other.”
In a call with Macron late Wednesday, Biden reaffirmed “the strategic importance of French and European engagement in the Indo-Pacific region,” according to a joint statement.
More than just a decision to pursue nuclear submarines, the deal was a clear signal of Australia committing long term to being in the U.S. camp on China policy, said Euan Graham, an expert with the International Institute for Strategic Studies in Singapore.
The submarine deal seems likely to exacerbate the ongoing trade war between China and Australia, and Australia is hoping to strike a free trade deal with Quad partner India to help offset the economic impact.
Read: China's foreign minister says Indo-Pacific strategy should be dumped
While the European strategy outline will take time, the plan provides clarity in how the EU is prepared to work with the U.S. and its allies in the region — something that has been lacking in the past.
“There’s a lack of understanding on the U.S. side of why Europe is interested in the Indo-Pacific and exactly what kind of role it wants to play,” Mohan said in a podcast on the issue. “There’s also a lack of understanding of the U.S. approach.”
In the outline of the strategy, the EU broadly looks to pool its resources for greater effect, and to work more closely with the Quad countries, the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations, and others.
It also envisions enhancing current operations, such as the Atalanta anti-piracy mission off the Horn of Africa and in the western Indian Ocean, and the expansion of the EU maritime security and safety mission in the wider Indian Ocean area, which has already been broadened to Southeast Asia.
“The European assessment is very realistic about what they can and cannot do in the region,” Mohan said. “It’s about making sure the resources, the spending, that’s done right and has an impact.”
China, US unveil separate big steps to fight climate change
The two biggest economies and largest carbon polluters in the world announced separate financial attacks on climate change Tuesday.
Chinese President Xi Jinping said his country will no longer fund coal-fired power plants abroad, surprising the world on climate for the second straight year at the U.N. General Assembly. That came hours after U.S. President Joe Biden announced a plan to double financial aid to poorer nations to $11.4 billion by 2024 so those countries could switch to cleaner energy and cope with global warming’s worsening impacts. That puts rich nations close to within reach of its long-promised but not realized goal of $100 billion a year in climate help for developing nations.
“This is an absolutely seminal moment,” said Xinyue Ma, an expert on energy development finance at Boston University’s Global Development Policy Center.
Read: Biden aims to enlist allies in tackling climate, COVID, more
This could provide some momentum going into major climate talks in Glasgow, Scotland, in less than six weeks, experts said. Running up to the historic 2015 Paris climate deal, a joint U.S.-China agreement kickstarted successful negotiations. This time, with China-U.S. relations dicey, the two nations made their announcements separately, hours and thousands of miles apart.
“Today was a really good day for the world,” United Kingdom Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who is hosting the upcoming climate negotiations, told Vice President Kamala Harris.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, who has made a frenetic push this week for bigger efforts to curb climate change called the two announcements welcome news, but said “we still have a long way to go” to make the Glasgow meeting successful.
Depending on when China’s new coal policy goes into effect, it could shutter 47 planned power plants in 20 developing countries that use the fuel that emits the most heat-trapping gases, about the same amount of coal power as from Germany, according to the European climate think-tank E3G.
“It’s a big deal. China was the only significant funder of overseas coal left. This announcement essentially ends all public support for coal globally,” said Joanna Lewis, an expert on China, energy and climate at Georgetown University. “This is the announcement many have been waiting for.”
From 2013 to 2019, data showed that China was financing 13% of coal-fired power capacity built outside China – “far and away the largest public financier,” said Kevin Gallagher, who directs the Boston University center. Japan and South Korea announced earlier this year that they were getting out of the coal-financing business.
With all three countries pulling out of financing coal abroad “that sends a signal to the global economy. This is a sector that’s fast becoming a stranded asset,” Gallagher said.
Read: Climate crisis no longer a looming crisis: Mia Seppo
Afghanistan’s Taliban want to address General Assembly: UN
Who should represent Afghanistan at the United Nations this month? It’s a complex question with plenty of political implications.
The Taliban, the country’s new rulers for a matter of weeks, are challenging the credentials of their country’s former U.N. ambassador and want to speak at the General Assembly’s high-level meeting of world leaders this week, the international body says.
The question now facing U.N. officials comes just over a month after the Taliban, ejected from Afghanistan by the United States and its allies after 9/11, swept back into power as U.S. forces prepared to withdraw from the country at the end of August. The Taliban stunned the world by taking territory with surprising speed and little resistance from the U.S.-trained Afghan military. The Western-backed government collapsed on Aug. 15.
Read:Taliban replace ministry for women with ‘virtue’ authorities
U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said Secretary-General Antonio Guterres received a communication on Sept. 15 from the currently accredited Afghan Ambassador, Ghulam Isaczai, with the list of Afghanistan’s delegation for the assembly’s 76th annual session.
Five days later, Guterres received another communication with the letterhead “Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, Ministry of Foreign Affairs,” signed by “Ameer Khan Muttaqi” as “Minister of Foreign Affairs,” requesting to participate in the U.N. gathering of world leaders.
Muttaqi said in the letter that former Afghan president Ashraf Ghani was “ousted” as of Aug. 15 and that countries across the world “no longer recognize him as president,” and therefore Isaczai no longer represents Afghanistan, Dujarric said.
The Taliban said it was nominating a new U.N. permanent representative, Mohammad Suhail Shaheen, the U.N. spokesman said. He has been a spokesman for the Taliban during peace negotiations in Qatar.
Senior U.S. State Department officials said they were aware of the Taliban’s request — the United States is a member of the U.N. credentials committee — but they would not predict how that panel might rule. However, one of the officials said the committee “would take some time to deliberate,” suggesting the Taliban’s envoy would not be able to speak at the General Assembly at this session at least during the high-level leaders’ week.
In cases of disputes over seats at the United Nations, the General Assembly’s nine-member credentials committee must meet to make a decision. Both letters have been sent to the committee after consultations with General Assembly President Abdulla Shahid’s office. The committee’s members are the United States, Russia, China, Bahama, Bhutan, Chile, Namibia, Sierra Leone and Sweden.
Read:Friction among Taliban pragmatists, hard-liners intensifies
Afghanistan is scheduled to give the last speech on the final day of the high-level meeting on Sept. 27. It wasn’t clear who would speak if the committee met and the Taliban were given Afghanistan’s seat.
When the Taliban last ruled from 1996 to 2001, the U.N. refused to recognize their government and instead gave Afghanistan’s seat to the previous, warlord-dominated government of President Burhanuddin Rabbani, who eventually was killed by a suicide bomber in 2011. It was Rabbani’s government that brought Osama bin Laden, the mastermind of 9/11, to Afghanistan from Sudan in 1996.
The Taliban have said they want international recognition and financial help to rebuild the war-battered country. But the makeup of the new Taliban government poses a dilemma for the United Nations. Several of the interim ministers are on the U.N.’s so-called blacklist of international terrorists and funders of terrorism.
Credentials committee members could also use Taliban recognition as leverage to press for a more inclusive government that guarantees human rights, especially for girls who were barred from going to school during their previous rule, and women who weren’t able to work.
PM joins opening session of 76th UNGA general debate
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Tuesday attended the opening session of the high-level general debate of the 76th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA).
The UNGA general debate will continue till September 27 with participation of heads of states and governments across the world.
Sheikh Hasina will deliver her speech in the high-level general debate at the General Assembly Hall of the UN headquarters on September 24.
Read: PM arrives in New York to attend UNGA
The 76th session of the UNGA opened on September 14. On the opening day, Abdulla Shahid of the Maldives was sworn in as the president of the 76th session of UNGA.
Due to the global pandemic, small delegations are allowed in the UNGA this year.
Read: PM’s presence in UNGA important for critical issues: Dr Momen
Over 100 Heads of State or Governments are expected to attend in person in the 76th UNGA.
Sheikh Hasina arrived in New York on Sunday last to join the UNGA for the 18th time as the head of the government of Bangladesh.
PM’s presence in UNGA important for critical issues: Dr Momen
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s in-person presence in the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) is very important to give an impetus to campaigns for equitable access to Covid-19 vaccine, climate change and food security amid the global pandemic, said Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen.
“One of the major reasons behind her in-person presence is that Covid-19 vaccine will be our big issue. The Prime Minister has been campaigning from the day one that the Covid vaccine should be public good and each country should get it without any discrimination,” he said while briefing reporters in New York.
He said the Prime Minister would strongly put emphasis on the vaccine issue in her speech in the UNGA.
Besides, creating a momentum to the climate change campaign is very important ahead of the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP 26) to be held in Glasgow, Scotland from October 31 next, said the Foreign Minister, adding that Bangladesh is adversely affected by global warming.
He said around 30 million people would be displaced as some 17-25 percent of the country’s lands would submerge. “So, it’s a big problem for us, which should get focused in the upcoming COP 26. It needs to create a momentum for it and the Prime Minister’s presence in person is very significant,” he added.
Read:Vaccine should be a public good without any conditions: FM
Another reason is that there might be a food crisis in the future, he said, adding that the PM will focus on food security as well.
Describing the Prime Minister as a brave lady, he said she came here at this tough time amid risks. “She came for the welfare of the country’s people,” said Dr Momen, adding that she did not travel anywhere in the last 19 months and rather she attended some 1500 virtual events staying indoors.
Read:Hasina seeks SDGs roadmap for countries falling behind
Meanwhile, Barbados Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley called on Sheikh Hasina at her hotel suite.
She presented a copy of Bangabandhu's ‘Unfinished Memoirs’ to her Barbados counterpart.
Biden aims to enlist allies in tackling climate, COVID, more
President Joe Biden planned to use his first address before the U.N. General Assembly to reassure other nations of American leadership on the global stage and call on allies to move quickly and cooperatively to address the festering issues of the COVID-19 pandemic, climate change and human rights abuses.
Biden, who arrived in New York on Monday evening to meet with Secretary-General Antonio Guterres ahead of Tuesday’s address, offered a full-throated endorsement of the body’s relevance and ambition at a difficult moment in history.
The president, in brief remarks at the start of his meeting with Guterres, returned to his mantra that “America is back” — a phrase that’s become presidential shorthand meant to encapsulate his promise to take a dramatically different tack with allies than predecessor Donald Trump.
“The vision of the United Nations has never been short on ambition, any more than our Constitution,” Biden said.
Read:US easing virus restrictions for foreign flights to America
But the president was facing a healthy measure of skepticism from allies during his week of high-level diplomacy. The opening months of his presidency have included a series of difficult moments with friendly nations that were expecting greater cooperation from Biden following four years of Trump’s “America first” approach to foreign policy.
Eight months into his presidency, Biden has been out of sync with allies on the chaotic ending to the U.S. war in Afghanistan. He has faced differences over how to go about sharing coronavirus vaccines with the developing world and over pandemic travel restrictions. And there are questions about the best way to respond to military and economic moves by China.
Biden also finds himself in the midst of a fresh diplomatic spat with France, the United States’ oldest ally, after announcing plans — along with Britain — to equip Australia with nuclear-powered submarines. The move is expected to give Australia improved capabilities to patrol the Pacific amid growing concern about the Chinese military’s increasingly aggressive tactics, but it upended a French defense contract worth at least $66 billion to sell diesel-powered submarines to Australia.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said Monday there was a “crisis of trust” with the U.S. as a result of the episode.
Ahead of Biden’s arrival, EU Council President Charles Michel strongly criticized the Biden administration for leaving Europe “out of the game in the Indo-Pacific region” and ignoring the underlying elements of the trans-Atlantic alliance — transparency and loyalty — in the withdrawal from Afghanistan and the announcement of the U.S.-U.K.-Australia alliance.
Read: Out West, Biden points to wildfires to push for big rebuild
Despite such differences, Biden hoped to use his Tuesday address to the General Assembly as well as a series of one-on-one and larger meetings with world leaders this week to make the case for American leadership on the world stage.
“There are points of disagreement, including when we have disagreed with the decisions other countries are making, the decision points of when countries have disagreed with the decisions we’re making,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki said. “But the larger point here ... is that we are committed to those alliances, and that always requires work from every president, from every global leader.”
In an interview ahead of his meeting with Biden, Guterres told The Associated Press that he was concerned about the “completely dysfunctional” U.S.-China relationship and that it could lead to a new cold war. Psaki said the administration disagreed with the assessment, adding that the U.S.-China relationship was “one not of conflict but of competition.”
In his address Tuesday, Biden planned to put a heavy emphasis on the need for world leaders to work together on the COVID-19 pandemic, meet past obligations to address climate change, head off emerging technology issues and firm up trade rules, White House officials said.
Biden was expected to release new plans to assist the global vaccination effort and to talk about the U.S. plan to meet its part of financial commitments that the U.S. and other developed nations made in 2009 to help poorer nations adopt clean energy technology, assistance that was due to kick in annually last year, according to a senior administration official who spoke on the condition of anonymity to preview the president’s remarks.
Read: Biden’s vaccine rules ignite instant, hot GOP opposition
Ahead of his departure, the Biden administration announced plans to ease foreign travel restrictions to the U.S. beginning in November. The U.S. has largely restricted travel by non-U.S. citizens coming from Europe since the start of the pandemic, an issue that had become a point of contention in trans-Atlantic relations.
The new rules will allow foreigners in if they have proof of vaccination and a negative COVID-19 test, the White House said Monday.
Biden planned to limit his time at the United Nations due to coronavirus concerns. He was to meet with Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison while in New York before shifting the rest of the week’s diplomacy to virtual and Washington settings.
At a virtual COVID-19 summit Biden is hosting Wednesday, leaders will be urged to step up vaccine-sharing commitments, address oxygen shortages around the globe and deal with other critical pandemic-related issues.
The president is also scheduled to meet with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Tuesday at the White House, and invited the prime ministers of Australia, India and Japan — part of a Pacific alliance known as “the Quad” — to Washington on Friday. In addition to the gathering of Quad leaders, Biden will sit down for one-on-one meetings with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga.
PM leaves Finland en route to New York to attend UNGA
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Sunday left here for USA to attend the 76th session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.
The VVIP chartered flight of Biman Bangladesh Airlines carrying the PM left Helsinki-Vantaa Airport at 4:16 pm (local time), said PM’s press secretary Ihsanul Karim.
Ambassador of Bangladesh in Finland (non-resident) Md Nazmul Islam saw her off her at the airport.
The flight is scheduled to land at John F. Kennedy International Airport, New York at 6pm (local time).
It is her first foreign trip since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic in March 2020.
She is going to join the UNGA for the 18th time as the head of government of Bangladesh and will address the UNGA general debate on September 24.
Besides, Sheikh Hasina will attend the opening session of the UNGA general debate on September 21 and other sideline events in the UN headquarters (UNHQ) on September 20-24. She will also have talks with a number of leaders during her stay in New York. The PM is expected to return home on October 1 next.
She will stay at the Hotel Lotte Palace during her stay in New York from September 19 to 25.
On September 20 (Monday), the PM will attend a closed-door meeting for a small group of HOSs/HOGs on climate change at the UNHQ at 9am, plant a tree and dedicate a bench at the UN Gardens at 11:30am in honour of the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman on the occasion of his birth centenary, and lay a floral wreath at the Peace Memorial at the North Lawn of UNHQ at 11:50am.
Read: PM reaches Finland route to New York to attend UNGA
On Monday, Sheikh Hasina will sit in two separate bilateral meetings with EU Council President Charles Michel at 12:30pm (local time) and with Barbados Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley at 2:45pm at her place of residence. Besides, she will join a virtual event of Sustainable Development Solution Network at 4:00pm.
On September 21 (Tuesday), the PM will attend the opening session of the UNGA general debate at 9:00pm, sit in a bilateral meeting with Denmark Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen in the afternoon and join Business Roundtable on US-Bangladesh Business Council at 4:00pm at the place of residence.
On September 22 (Wednesday), Sheikh Hasina will virtually attend three events. The events are the high-level meeting of the UNGA to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the adoption of the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action at 9:00am, White House Global Covid-19 Summit: Ending the Pandemic and building back better, and a high level side event on Rohingya crisis: imperatives for a sustainable solution at 3:00pm.
On September 23 (Thursday), the Bangladesh PM will attend two programmes by sending her pre-recorded statements. These are the Leaders’ Network on ‘delivering on the UN common agenda: Action to achieve equality and inclusion’ to be organised by Swedish Mission to the UN at 8:00am, and the Food Systems Summit, as part of the decade of action to achieve the sustainable development goals (SDGs) by 2030, convened by the UNSG at 1:00pm.
Read: PM flies for Finland Friday morning on her way to UNGA
On Thursday, Sheikh Hasina will sit in four separate bilateral meetings with Queen Máxima of the Netherlands at the place of residence, UN Secretary-General António Guterres at 1:30pm, Maldives President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih at 2:00pm and Vietnam President Nguyễn Xuân Phúc at 2:40pm at the UNHQ.
On September 24 (Friday), the Bangladesh Prime Minister will address the UNGA 76 general debate in the morning, sit in a bilateral meeting with Netherlands Prime Minister Mark Rutte at UNHQ, and will virtually join a community programme.
On September 25 (Saturday), Sheikh Hasina will depart New York for Washington DC by a Biman flight at 8:00am. She will stay in Washington DC from 25 to 30 September.
Hasina is scheduled to leave Washington for Dhaka on 30 September and will return home on October 1 after a short stopover in Finland.
UNGA: WHO urges world leaders to focus on vaccine equity
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has urged the global leaders, attending the 76th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), to guarantee equitable access to Covid vaccines and other life-saving tools.
It also called for ensuring that the world is better prepared to respond to future pandemics; renewing efforts to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The Covid-19 pandemic has already claimed nearly 5 million lives, and the virus continues to circulate actively across the globe.
Vaccines are the most critical tool to end the pandemic and save lives and livelihoods. More than 5.7 billion vaccine doses have been administered globally, but 73% of all doses have been administered in just 10 countries.
High-income countries have administered 61 times more doses per inhabitant than low-income ones.
The longer vaccine inequity persists, the more the virus will keep circulating and evolving, and the longer the social and economic disruption will continue.
So, the UN health agency targets to vaccinate at least 40% of the population of every country by the end of this year, and 70% by the middle of next year.
Read: Vaccine inequity undermining global economic recovery
These targets are achievable if countries and manufacturers make a genuine commitment to vaccine equity.
The WHO is calling on countries to fulfil their dose-sharing pledges immediately and to swap their near-term vaccine deliveries with COVAX and AVAT (African Covid-19 Vaccine Acquisition Task Team).
The UN agency is also calling on manufacturers to prioritise supplies to COVAX and partners, and for countries and manufacturers to facilitate the sharing of technology, know-how and intellectual property to support regional vaccine manufacturing.
COVAX, the global initiative for equitable distribution of Covid-19 vaccines, is led by the WHO; Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, Unicef and the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI).
It is the only global initiative that is working with governments and manufacturers to ensure Covid-19 vaccines are available worldwide to both higher-income and lower-income countries.
So far, COVAX has shipped more than 260 million doses to 141 countries.
However, the WHO urged all countries to break the cycle of "panic and neglect" seen after previous health emergencies, and commit adequate financial resources, as well as political will, to strengthening health emergency preparedness across the globe.
Read:'Only Together' campaign to support global vaccine equity call
Universal health coverage (UHC) is a keystone of global health security. Despite progress in UHC in recent years, 90% of countries have reported disruptions in essential health services due to the pandemic, with the consequences reverberating beyond the health sector.
Serious investment in UHC and pandemic preparedness is critical not only to bolster global health security but also to getting the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda back on track.
The pandemic has reversed progress towards the SDGs, including gains that had been made on eradicating poverty, eliminating gender inequality, vaccinating children against communicable diseases and girls' and boys' education.
However, it is also providing the world with new opportunities to do things differently and to truly collaborate on building back better – towards a healthier, fairer, more inclusive and sustainable world.
PM reaches Finland route to New York to attend UNGA
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina reached Finland on Friday en route to New York to attend the 76th session of the United Nations General Assembly.
Ambassador of Bangladesh in Finland (non-resident) Md Nazmul Islam received the prime minister at the Vanta International Airport, Helsinki as she arrived there on a VVIP chartered flight of Biman Bangladesh Airlines at 3:37 pm local time ( 9 am Bangladesh time).
On September 19 (Sunday), Sheikh Hasina will leave Helsinki for New York by a VVIP flight of Biman Bangladesh Airlines (BG-1902) at 3pm (local time). The flight is scheduled to land at John F. Kennedy International Airport, New York at 6pm (local time).
Read: PM flies for Finland Friday morning on her way to UNGA
It is her first foreign trip since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic in March 2020. She is going to join the UNGA for the 18th time as the head of government of Bangladesh and will address the UNGA general debate on September 24.
During the two-week official visit Sheikh Hasina will attend the opening session of the UNGA general debate on September 21 and other sideline events in the UN headquarters (UNHQ) on September 20-24. She will also have talks with a number of leaders during her stay in New York. The PM is expected to return home on October 1 next.
PM flies for Finland Friday morning on her way to UNGA
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will leave for Finland on Friday morning as part of a two-week official visit to attend the 76th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA 76) in New York, USA.
It is her first foreign trip since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic in March 2020. She is going to join the UNGA for the 18th time as the head of government of Bangladesh and will address the UNGA general debate on September 24.
Besides, Sheikh Hasina will attend the opening session of the UNGA general debate on September 21 and other sideline events in the UN headquarters (UNHQ) on September 20-24. She will also have talks with a number of leaders during her stay in New York. The PM is expected to return home on October 1 next.
The Prime Minister will depart Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport for Helsinki, Finland, by a VVIP chartered flight of Biman Bangladesh Airlines (BG-1901) at 9am on Friday. The flight is scheduled to land at Helsinki-Vantaa Airport at 4:00pm (local time) on Friday, said PM’s Press Secretary Ihsanul Karim on Thursday.
On September 19 (Sunday), Sheikh Hasina will leave Helsinki for New York by a VVIP flight of Biman Bangladesh Airlines (BG-1902) at 3pm (local time). The flight is scheduled to land at John F. Kennedy International Airport, New York at 6pm (local time).
She will stay at the Hotel Lotte Palace during her stay in New York from September 19 to 25.
On September 20 (Monday), the PM will attend a closed-door meeting for a small group of HOSs/HOGs on climate change at the UNHQ at 9am, plant a tree and dedicate a bench at the UN Gardens at 11:30am in honour of the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman on the occasion of his birth centenary, and lay a floral wreath at the Peace Memorial at the North Lawn of UNHQ at 11:50am.
On Monday, Sheikh Hasina will sit in two separate bilateral meetings with EU Council President Charles Michel at 12:30pm (local time) and with Barbados Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley at 2:45pm at her place of residence. Besides, she will join a virtual event of Sustainable Development Solution Network at 4:00pm.
Read: Vaccine equity, Rohingya, climate change on top of Hasina’s UNGA agenda
On September 21 (Tuesday), the PM will attend the opening session of the UNGA general debate at 9:00pm, sit in a bilateral meeting with Denmark Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen in the afternoon and join Business Roundtable on US-Bangladesh Business Council at 4:00pm at the place of residence.
On September 22 (Wednesday), Sheikh Hasina will virtually attend three events. The events are the high-level meeting of the UNGA to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the adoption of the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action at 9:00am, White House Global Covid-19 Summit: Ending the Pandemic and building back better, and a high level side event on Rohingya crisis: imperatives for a sustainable solution at 3:00pm.
On September 23 (Thursday), the Bangladesh PM will attend two programmes by sending her prerecorded statements. These are the Leaders’ Network on ‘delivering on the UN common agenda: Action to achieve equality and inclusion’ to be organised by Swedish Mission to the UN at 8:00am, and the Food Systems Summit, as part of the decade of action to achieve the sustainable development goals (SDGs) by 2030, convened by the UNSG at 1:00pm.
On Thursday, Sheikh Hasina will sit in four separate bilateral meetings with Queen Máxima of the Netherlands at the place of residence, UN Secretary-General António Guterres at 1:30pm, Maldives President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih at 2:00pm and Vietnam President Nguyễn Xuân Phúc at 2:40pm at the UNHQ.
On September 24 (Friday), the Bangladesh Prime Minister will address the UNGA 76 general debate in the morning, sit in a bilateral meeting with Netherlands Prime Minister Mark Rutte at UNHQ, and will virtually join a community programme.
On September 25 (Saturday), Sheikh Hasina will depart New York for Washington DC by a Biman flight at 8:00am. She will stay in Washington DC from 25 to 30 September.
Hasina is scheduled to leave Washington for Dhaka on 30 September and will return home on October 1 after a stopover in Finland.