United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres arrived in Dhaka on Thursday with a packed schedule for Friday and Saturday, featuring a series of meetings and greater engagements in Cox’s Bazar Rohingya camp, before his departure on Sunday morning.
Foreign Affairs Adviser MdTouhidHossain received the UN chief after his arrival at HazratShahjalal International Airport by an Emirates Airlines flight in the afternoon, said Chief Adviser’s deputy press secretary AbulKalam Azad Majumder.
Guterres will meet Chief Adviser Prof Muhammad Yunus at his office on Friday morning.
Adviser Hossain Touhid Hossain and High Representative on Rohingya issue and priority matters DrKhalilurRahman will also together meet the UN chief at a city hotel.
After these two separate meetings, the UN chief together with the Chief Adviser will travel to Cox’s Bazar to visit the Rohingya camps.
Disaster Management and Relief Adviser Faruk E AzamBirProtik will receive them at Cox’s Bazar International Airport at around 12pm on Friday.
At a briefing at the watch tower led by UNRC, RRRC, ISCG Principal Coordinator and IOM-UNHCR Representative, a panoramic view of the camps and Myanmar border will be provided.
There will be a briefing by the World Bank; demonstrating the role of IFIs on strengthening infrastructure and human capital investment among refugees.
The briefing will highlight disaster mitigation and integrated approaches to service delivery.
Sharing their engagements in the Rohingya camp, Chief Adviser’s Deputy Press Secretary AbulKalam Azad Majumder said they expect 1 lakh Rohingya people will join iftar with the Chief Adviser and UN chief together.
Guterres and DrYunus will take part in an Iftar meal with refugees and members of the Bangladeshi host community, recognising the generosity of Bangladesh in sheltering nearly one million Rohingya who fled persecution and violence in Myanmar.
They are expected to return to Dhaka from Cox’s Bazar around 8:40pm on Friday.
On Saturday, the UN chief will visit new UN common premises and see 50th anniversary photo exhibition. Adviser AdilurRahman Khan and Foreign Secretary MdJashimUddin are likely to remain present.
Guterres will also join a meeting with the UN Country Team members and UN all staff.
He is likely to attend a roundtable discussion on reforms and will have a separate dialogue with the youth on Saturday.
The UN Secretary General will also have a meeting with the civil society to be moderated by Adviser Syeda Rizwana Hasan.
A joint media briefing by the UN Secretary General and Foreign Adviser Hossain is likely to take place before joining Iftar and early dinner to be hosted by Chief Adviser Yunus.
The UN Secretary General is scheduled to leave Dhaka on Sunday morning wrapping up his second visit to Bangladesh. High Representative KhalilurRahman will see him off at the airport.
