DHAKA, Sept 18 (NNN-BSS) — Foreign Secretary Masud Bin Momen expressed Bangladesh’s frustration at the UN’s failure to ensure repatriation of the displaced Rohingya people to Myanmar.
“We’re deeply frustrated that the UN system could not ensure the repatriation of the Rohingya people,” he said at a webinar discussion… adding that “Bangladesh will keep raising the issue at different forum of the UN.”
North South University’s Center for Peace Studies and the United Nations Bangladesh jointly organized the two-day webinar titled “The UN in Time of People’s Needs: Rethinking Multilateralism”, marking the 75th anniversary of the UN.
Momen, who was Bangladesh permanent representative to the UN said that the Covid-19 pandemic had exposed the UN system’s loopholes alongside national inadequacies.
The foreign secretary also acknowledged that the increasing involvement of the civil societies in the UN system is irreversible.
Numbers of academics, development practitioners and diplomats joined the discussion where they recommended that Asia’s rising nations, including Bangladesh, need to be in focus in democratising the United Nations.
They insisted that civil society organisations (CSOs) and the corporate sector should be incorporated into the process of the ongoing transformation of the UN to make sure that communities, rather than mere nation-states, are served.
Resident Coordinator of the United Nations in Bangladesh Mia Seppo expressed her views that the civil society voice would be accommodated at the UN only if civic space is there within the member states.
Professor of International Relations department of Dhaka University Dr. Imtiaz Ahmed observed that the geopolitics that led to the creation of the UN after 1945 is no longer there.
He, however, pointed out that emphasis should be on accommodating persons, instead of an approach to replacing Europe and America with Asia.
Referring to the recognition of Bangladesh’s development performance, Ambassador and the Head of Delegation of the European Union to Bangladesh Rensje Teerink said the country is already a model.
Maintaining that the EU supports multilateralism, she said that the EU countries are going to organise a global health summit soon. — NNN-BSS
