In his first major address at the United Nations, the Chief Advisor of Bangladesh’s interim government, Dr. Muhammad Yunus, appealed to the international community to engage with a ‘new Bangladesh’ in the shared efforts to cooperate on global issues.
Yunus arrived earlier in the week to attend the 79th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York. In the four days he was here, Yunus held meetings with a range of world leaders, notably UN Secretary-General António Guterres and US President Joe Biden. This would indicate there is good support for him and what he represents. On Friday, Yunus addressed the General Assembly, speaking in his native language, Bangla.
“I stand in this parliament of nations thanks to an epochal transformation that Bangladesh witnessed this July and August,” said Yunus. “The ‘power of the ordinary people’, in particular our youth, presented to our nation an opportunity to overhaul many of our systems and institutions.”
Bangladesh is currently in a period of significant transition since the anti-government protests broke out in July earlier this year, which led to the ousting of former prime minister Sheikh Hasina. The protest movement began with calls for government reform before it transformed into a wider movement that spoke out against the government’s retaliatory tactics and deeper corruption within the administration and law enforcement.
Shortly after Hasina’s departure on August 5, it was announced that an interim government would be instated with an agenda to implement sweeping reforms on law enforcement and government administration, among other matters. Yunus received an invitation from the protest movement to head the interim government thanks to his decades-long career in economics and civil society, his distinction as a Nobel laureate, and his recognition by the international community. He took office in Dhaka on August 12, 2024.
Yunus remarked that the new government would be committed to promoting and protecting fundamental rights and ensuring good governance across all sectors. Since its formation, this new government, Yunus said, has already launched independent commissions into the electoral process, the judicial system and the legal sectors.
“I wish to assure that our government shall adhere to all international, regional and bilateral instruments that Bangladesh is party to. Bangladesh will continue to remain an active proponent of multilateralism, with the UN at the core,” he said.
As the unrest in Bangladesh unfolded over several weeks, the United Nations offered to support Bangladesh in its efforts towards reform and to seek accountability and justice for the lives impacted during the protests.
Notably, UN Human Rights Commissioner Volker Türk deployed a team on a fact-finding mission to Bangladesh to investigate human rights violations that occurred over the protest movement in July, for which Yunus offered his gratitude.
This year marks 50 years of Bangladesh as a member of the United Nations. Yunus remarked on Bangladesh’s involvement with the UN through its work with the peacekeeping forces. Bangladesh is the third-largest contributor of peacekeepers among the member states. Yunus also noted the Culture of Peace resolution passed by the General Assembly in 20021 and the Microcredit Resolution in 1999.
In his address, Yunus also referred to the ongoing Rohingya refugee crisis, where Bangladesh has hosted over 1.2 million refugees over seven years. He called for the continued support from the international community on humanitarian operations for the refugee community, adding that the community and Bangladesh would need to work together to ensure the “dignified and sustainable return” to the Rakhine State in Myanmar.
Yunus called for new forms of collaboration between all stakeholders. He noted that this could be achieved through countries uniting and sharing resources and capacity to “leverage collective strength.”
“Time demands new attitudes, new values, new compact(s), across communities and countries, across developed and developing countries alike, across all actors and stakeholders,” he said.
Yunus also noted that through cooperation, developing countries such as those in the Global South were empowered to work towards innovative solutions. “It is also a growing necessity for the global South to make our voices heard. In shaping and steering the global agenda, the global South merits equal space and focus,” he noted.
Yunus concluded his address, reiterating his call for the world to pool its resources and solutions in working together to address the complex and interconnected issues the world must address, and in doing so, to uphold the rights and dignities of all people.
“Let us work together to end all forms of inequality and discrimination, within and among nations, especially in advancing the proposition of social business in our economic interactions.”
Naureen Hossain is an IPS correspondent based in New York
