Muhammad Yunus of Bangladesh paid tribute to the role of youth in his country, as he urged global leaders at the UN General Assembly to invest in the potential of their own countries’ younger generations to shape a fairer, more equitable world.
Recent “catastrophic and massive floods” in Bangladesh have affected millions of people across the country, including those in Cox’s Bazar where nearly one million Rohingya refugees from Myanmar live alongside host communities, spokesperson William Spindler told journalists in Geneva on Friday.
Over 18 million people in Bangladesh have been affected by severe monsoon conditions, with more than 1.2 million families trapped as flash floods submerge vast areas of the country’s east and southeast.
Seven years since the forced mass displacement of Rohingya and other communities from Myanmar’s Rakhine State, the UN Secretary-General has called for an end to the violence and full protection of civilians across the country which is now engulfed in a brutal civil conflict.
The political transition underway in Bangladesh represents an historic opportunity to ensure governance is anchored in human rights, inclusivity and the rule of law, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights said on Friday.
The UN Secretary-General has welcomed efforts to restore calm and hold fresh parliamentary elections in Bangladesh, urging the interim government to be inclusive as the country moves towards restoring democratic rule.
The UN continues to monitor fast-moving developments in Bangladesh after Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina fled the country on Monday following weeks of student protests that left hundreds dead.
Young people took to the streets to demand an end to a quota system for civil servant jobs, which was later withdrawn.
To find out more about the crisis, UN News’s Anshu Sharma in Delhi spoke to the UN Resident Coordinator in Bangladesh, Gwyn Lewis, who said the mood in the country is hopeful, with “a sense of opportunity”.
The resignation and departure of the Bangladeshi Prime Minister after weeks of bloody protests has been met with “euphoria” alongside some concern over the government’s transition, the UN’s top official in Bangladesh said in an interview with UN News on Tuesday.
Top United Nations officials underscored the need for a peaceful and democratic transition in Bangladesh after Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina resigned and fled the country on Monday in the face of massive anti-Government protests, which claimed the lives of hundreds of demonstrators in recent weeks.
The UN’s top human rights official on Sunday called for an immediate stop to the violence in Bangladesh, which claimed scores of lives, including those of police officers, over the weekend.
