YouSaid · the spoken record

Sheikh Hasina

lines on the record: 296
first: 1999-09-24
most recent: 2023-09-24
sittings or episodes: 16
sources: un-general-debate

Every line below is reproduced as it was said and linked to the record it came from. Nothing here is summarised or generated. Directory · Search · Corrections

“It has dangerous implications for least developed countries, which is why they need greater international support for socioeconomic security, for duty-free and quota-free access of their products to all markets, for the fulfilment of official development assistance commitments, for an equal voice in Bretton Woods institutions and other international financial institutions, and for free movement of labour to all countries. In fact, we should immediately implement Mode IV of the General Agreement on Trade in Services to benefit both sending and receiving countries. We should also ensure documentation, safe migration and the protection of the rights of migrant workers, especially women and children, as a shared responsibility of sending and receiving States in the World Trade Organization.”
2012-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 67 (2012)
“As the current Chair of the Forum, Bangladesh launched the second edition of the Climate Vulnerability Monitor yesterday in New York. I also reiterate my call for an international agreement limiting greenhouse-gas emissions on the principle of common and differentiated responsibilities, on early operationalization of the Green Climate Fund for, inter alia, adaptation, mitigation and technology transfer. Closely linked to climate change is global food and energy security. The increase of food and energy prices due to climate change can be very disturbing indeed.”
2012-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 67 (2012)
“At the current Assembly session we will submit a draft resolution on the autism spectrum disorder, which I hope will receive the Assembly’s support. Our efforts are hindered by unjust developments resulting from climate change, such as increasing poverty, property loss, human displacement and the consequent terrorism. The inevitable sea-level rise will create mass movements of displaced migrants. A new legal regime ensuring social, cultural and economic rehabilitation of climate migrants — which I called for at the Assembly’s sixty-fourth session — must be put in place. It was also emphasized at the Dhaka meeting in 2011 of the Climate Vulnerable Forum that an alliance of countries most vulnerable to climate change and rising sea levels has to be forged.”
2012-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 67 (2012)
“We welcome his high-level panel on the post-2015 development agenda, which should consider coherence with the sustainable development goals and should prioritize poverty, hunger, nutrition, global food and energy security, climate change and global partnership for sustainable development. I hope that the high-level panel will also consider formulating a position on the painful plight of autistic and disadvantaged children, who constitute about 1 per cent of the world’s population. At home, we have put in place 55 special-needs schools and a centre for neurodevelopment and autism in children. In July 2011, with the collaboration of the World Health Organization and Autism Speaks, we launched a global autism public health initiative.”
2012-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 67 (2012)
“We have achieved gender parity in primary and secondary education and have established 12,000 community clinics to ensure nutrition and health care for rural people, especially mothers and children. A climate change trust fund has been set up to implement adaptation and mitigation programmes. All those undertakings have helped in achieving Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) 3, 4 and 5, on gender parity and infant and maternal mortality, ahead of 2015. Our achievements have earned us global recognition through MDG, South-South and Food and Agriculture Organization awards. Importantly, the Secretary- General has acknowledged those achievements by including me as a member of the Scaling Up Nutrition Lead Group and as a champion for the Education First initiative.”
2012-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 67 (2012)
“They have helped to reduce overall inflation from double digits to 4.97 per cent, with food inflation declining from 13 per cent in 2008 to 2.25 per cent at present. Our efforts have assisted in the employment of 7.5 million in the private sector and half a million in the public sector. Exports have increased annually by 19 per cent over 2009 figures to $24.3 billion in 2011-2012. We have helped to arrange overseas jobs for 1.87 million nationals, increasing annual inward remittances by 10 per cent over 2009 to $12 billion in 2011-2012. We have maintained macroeconomic stability. We have expanded information and communications technology facilities among the lowest tier of local Government to ensure the availability of e-services to rural people. Nearly 100 per cent of school-age children are enrolled in in primary schools.”
2012-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 67 (2012)
“So far, 12,838 women have been elected to local Government bodies, and 69 women are members of the Parliament, constituting 20 per cent of the total number of members of Parliament. Besides my being the Prime Minister and Leader of the House, other women include the Opposition Leader, the Deputy Leader of the House, five Cabinet ministers and a Whip. Of general Government posts, 30 per cent are reserved for women, some of whom serve in very senior positions in the judicial, administrative and diplomatic fields, as well as in the armed and law enforcement services and as United Nations peacekeepers. Our efforts to empower people in my present tenure have so far helped in reducing poverty by 10 per cent, attaining a gross domestic product growth rate of 6.5 per cent and enhancing per capita income by 34.6 per cent.”
2012-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 67 (2012)
“We entrenched the election commission and democratic institutions for holding 5,182 elections in a completely free and credible atmosphere. We freed and expanded the media, with 24 private television channels, 7 news agencies, 11 FM and 14 community radio stations, 320 daily newspapers and 151 periodicals. Since justice is the basis for empowering people for peace and development, women should have an equal role. To expedite the process of their empowerment, girls are provided free education up to higher secondary school under our new education policy. Women are also encouraged to be active in our national life. Women’s leadership has been developed from the grass-roots level to the national level. Their participation in politics has been increased since the general elections in 2008.”
2012-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 67 (2012)
“I also seek the Assembly’s support for disseminating the model. In our efforts to achieve people’s empowerment, parliamentary standing committees were established during the first session of the Parliament that was constituted immediately after the general elections of 2008. There are 50 such committees, and many are chaired by members of Parliament from the opposition bench. We also introduced the Prime Minister’s question time and strengthened commissions on anti-corruption, human rights and information. We ensured an independent, proactive judiciary, strengthened the rule of law and established human rights, accountability, secularism and rights of minorities. We proceeded with regional multimodal connectivity to empower all people. We modernized education in madrasas.”
2012-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 67 (2012)
“The principles to which I have just referred also encouraged me to present a model for people’s empowerment and development at the sixty-sixth session (see A/66/PV.22). The model encompasses six mutually reinforcing peace multipliers: first, eradicating poverty and hunger; secondly, reducing inequality; thirdly, mitigating deprivation; fourthly, including excluded persons; fifthly, accelerating human development; and sixthly, eliminating terrorism. That model was endorsed by the Assembly in resolution 66/224, adopted by consensus last year. In Dhaka, on 5 and 6 August 2012, we held an international conference to discuss the model, and the 62 participating countries supported its consideration at the sixty-seventh session of the General Assembly. I highly appreciate their support.”
2012-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 67 (2012)
“In my four decades in politics for the welfare of the people, I have learned that peace prevails when justice prevails, both within States and in relations between States. Only justice can ensure peace, which is so vital for development, and justice is possible only through democracy, which empowers people. The alternative — the absence of democracy — means social injustice, poverty, inequality, deprivation and marginalization, which encourage extremism and terrorism. We are therefore strengthening democracy and justice by empowering people by eradicating poverty, hunger, inequality and deprivation and by establishing social safety nets, creating jobs, promoting inclusiveness, sustained growth and human development, and by countering terrorism.”
2012-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 67 (2012)
“As the current Chair of the Commission, on 25 September we held an event entitled “Peacebuilding: the way forward towards sustainable peace and security”, in which many here participated. As a member of the Human Rights Council and of the Economic and Social Council, we promote justice, peace, democracy, gender equality, secularism, the rule of law and the rights of minorities and vulnerable groups. As a member of the executive bodies of the United Nations Development Programme, the United Nations Population Fund, the United Nations Office for Partnerships, UNESCO, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the International Maritime Organization and the Universal Postal Union, we advocate setting global norms and standards.”
2012-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 67 (2012)
“We have also put increased emphasis on improving external relations. I was able to resolve a 25-year-old issue with India on sharing the water of the River Ganges with the signing in 1996 of the 30-year Ganges Water Sharing Treaty. Last year the 2011 Protocol to our 1974 Land Boundary Agreement settled a border demarcation issue that had gone unresolved for 64 years. We also addressed mutual concerns about a dam proposed by India across a common river. With our other neighbour, Myanmar, we reached a peaceful settlement of a 41-year maritime boundary dispute through the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea. Our national and international commitment to peace has also been demonstrated by our position among the top contributors to United Nations peacekeeping and as a founding member of the Peacebuilding Commission.”
2012-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 67 (2012)
“In that context, I would like to recall the role of my father, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the Father of the Nation, who from this rostrum 38 years ago espoused the principles of friendship towards all and malice towards none, the peaceful settlement of disputes, the renunciation of the use of force in international relations, and contributing to global peace and security. In essence, his policy at home and abroad was based on justice and peace. At home, during my last tenure as Prime Minister, in 1997, those policy guidelines inspired me to settle a 20-year conflict that had cost more than 20,000 lives, through the signing of the Chittagong Hill Tracts Peace Accord. In February 2009, during my current tenure, I was able to peacefully settle the volatile mutiny of our border guards, thus averting a dangerous crisis.”
2012-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 67 (2012)
“I warmly congratulate Mr. Jeremić on his election as President of the General Assembly at its sixty-seventh session, and I thank Mr. Nassir Abdulaziz Al-Nasser for his excellent leadership of the Assembly during the previous session. I also thank Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon for his efforts on behalf of the United Nations in the past year. Our new world is experiencing popular uprisings, intra-State conflicts, climate change disasters, global financial crises, food and energy insecurity, human rights violations, terrorism and so forth. These and other experiences call for collective efforts towards peaceful resolution at the United Nations. I therefore commend the theme for this year’s deliberations, namely, “Bringing about adjustment or settlement of international disputes or situations by peaceful means”.”
2012-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 67 (2012)
“That is possible by individual nations through sincere implementation of what is right, sometimes under the guidance of the United Nations. Let us all try to test that model of people’s empowerment, which I believe has the potential to transform our world of 7 billion people into one where our future generations may prosper and live in happiness. May Bangladesh live forever. Long live the United Nations.”
2011-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 66 (2011)
“It is a multidimensional plan that champions democracy and places people’s empowerment at the centre, with six mutually reinforcing peace multipliers. They are: first, the eradication of poverty and hunger; secondly, the reduction of inequality; thirdly, the mitigation of deprivation; fourthly, the inclusion of excluded persons; fifthly, the acceleration of human development; and sixthly, the elimination of terrorism. I call it the people’s empowerment model. It reaffirms that all people should be treated equally, and emphasizes the empowerment of people and the enhancement of human capabilities for the realization of peace. Prosperity is achievable with the removal of injustice and disempowerment in an environment of peace.”
2011-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 66 (2011)
“I believe that peace is achievable by eliminating injustices, which includes Repression, the absence of the rule of law, inequality, economic disparity, deprivation, poverty, the suppression of self-determination, the denial of secularism and multi-ethnicity, the negligence of equal rights for women and the marginalized, and the lack of transparency and accountability of Governments. Those types of injustices, according to the Uppsala Conflict Data Programme, led to the loss of more than 5 million lives from 1964 to 2011. I believe that such deaths could have been avoided by strengthening the mediation instruments of the United Nations and by placing people at the centre of peace and development. In fact, my life experiences have inspired me to come up with a new peace model, based on the empowerment of people.”
2011-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 66 (2011)
“We also established the Climate Change Trust Fund with $300 million from our own 43 11-51360 funds and the Bangladesh Climate Change Resilience Fund with $110 million from donors. Bangla is spoken by over 300 million people worldwide. I earnestly appeal to Member States to back my proposal to declare Bangla one of the official languages of the United Nations. I also seek their support for Bangladesh’s annual flagship resolution on a culture of peace, which I launched in 2000, when I was Prime Minister for the first time. Throughout my half-century in politics, I have always been a crusader of peace.”
2011-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 66 (2011)
“It is now time for development partners to implement the commitments made in Monterrey, Paris and Brussels before the conclusion of the Doha Development Round. Support must continue to enable LDCs to fulfil their Millennium Development Goals. Such support is especially important for Bangladesh under the extra tension of climate change. A metre rise in the sea level due to global warming would inundate a fifth of our landmass, displacing over 30 million people. That would be the largest humanitarian crisis in history. In order not to lose time, we have prepared a 134-point adaptation and mitigation plan that includes river dredging, afforestation of 20 per cent of the land, increasing food production with crop varieties adapted to climate change, et cetera.”
2011-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 66 (2011)
“Primary health-care services are delivered through 11,000 community health centres in rural areas, with each providing services to 6,000 people. My Government has also recently started raising awareness about autism and developmental disorders in children. Last July, we launched the Global Autism Public Health Initiative in Dhaka to help those disadvantaged with such disorders. However, to pursue those efforts and to develop socio-economic security, least developed countries (LDCs), such as Bangladesh, need international support. The support must come from granting us market access, removing trade barriers, the fulfilment of overseas development aid and combating climate change. The commitments made in Istanbul this May on agriculture, energy, infrastructure, water and migration would also strengthen the economic stability of LDCs.”
2011-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 66 (2011)
“To achieve our election pledge of a digital Bangladesh and to make Bangladesh a middle-income country by 2021, the golden jubilee year of our independence, we are expanding the reach of information and communications technology throughout the country. UNDP Administrator Helen Clark was with us this year to witness the launching of e-connectivity through our 4,500 information and service centres, which provide Internet access to millions of rural people. We have also set up an e-centre for rural communities, which connects 8,500 post offices, a high-tech park, e-governance capabilities and an e-infrastructure-building process. I believe in that health for all is an essential precondition for development.”
2011-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 66 (2011)
“Following the 2008 general elections, women’s participation in politics increased with their election to 12,828 reserved seats in local Government bodies and 64 members in the national Parliament. We also have five women Cabinet ministers in charge of agriculture, home, foreign affairs, women’s and children’s affairs, and labour. The Opposition Leader, the Deputy Leader, a Whip and, of course, the Prime Minister are all women. For the first time in our history, two women Members of Parliament have been made Chairs of Parliamentary Standing Committees. Women now occupy high positions in the Supreme Court, in civil, police and armed services, and in United Nations peacekeeping missions. Female business ventures also receive support from the Small and Medium Enterprise Foundation.”
2011-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 66 (2011)
“Our poverty reduction strategy is in tandem with the Millennium Development Goals and intends to raise 12 million people out of poverty by 2015. For development, we have integrated women’s education into our State policy. There is a saying that goes, “If you educate a boy, you educate a person; if you educate a girl, you educate a family and a whole nation”. Therefore, during our first term from 1996 to 2001, we adopted a national women’s development policy that has been revised during our current term to make it more relevant. The policy provides for the empowerment of women, their participation in decision-making, their protection, and gender equality. Education for girls is free up to the twelfth grade, and steps are on their way to ensure their free tuition until graduation.”
2011-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 66 (2011)
“At the same time, we are strengthening our democratic 11-51360 42 institutions, such as the commissions on elections, anti-corruption, human rights, information, as well as our judiciary, legislature and law enforcement agencies, which are tools for eliminating terrorism and extremism. Since justice begets peace and peace is vital for development, our policies are attuned to ensuring peoples’ rights. In pursuing the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), we are also fulfilling our people’s aspirations. The United Nations Award for MDG 4 on reducing child mortality, which I received last year, is a case in point. We are also on track to achieve MDG 1 on poverty alleviation, MDG 2 on universal primary education, MDG 3 on gender equality and MDG 5 on reducing maternal mortality.”
2011-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 66 (2011)
“I also recall the grenade attack on me and my followers at a peace rally on 21 August 2004, which left 24 dead and nearly 500 injured. I miraculously escaped but with permanent loss of hearing. I often think of all the victims of terrorism, especially those of the 11 September 2001 attacks in New York, as well as attacks that have taken place elsewhere in the world. Indeed, if peace is to prevail, these terrorists must be brought to justice. Our Government has a zero-tolerance policy towards terrorism. Our aim is to break the nexus between terrorism, extremism and radicalization and eliminate all of them from Bangladesh, a State party to all United Nations counter-terrorism conventions.”
2011-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 66 (2011)
“We have established an independent International Crimes Tribunal to try those responsible for war crimes committed during our liberation war in 1971. Their eventual punishment will strengthen our democracy and show that the State is capable of just retribution. As a State party to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, we believe in the Statute’s mandate of bringing perpetrators to justice. I am fully committed to battling terrorism in all its forms, having personally suffered from acts of terror. Here, I recall with profound sadness the brutal assassination of my father, the first President of Bangladesh, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, and 18 of my immediate family members, including my mother and three brothers, on 15 August 1975.”
2011-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 66 (2011)
“During the same term, I mediated the signing of the 30-year Ganges Water Sharing Treaty with neighbouring India. During my current term, this month we mediated and signed memoranda of understanding with India on our border demarcation, an issue that had been pending for the past 64 years, causing obstructions in the everyday life of my people. I am committed to settling all our problems with neighbouring India through discussion. During my current term and soon after forming the Government, one of the most dangerous challenges that I have faced was the mutiny of our border forces, which took 72 lives. Yet, that time, too, I chose a mediated settlement, thereby avoiding possible further loss of life. As a result, I came to believe that there can be no peace without justice.”
2011-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 66 (2011)
“As a member of the Human Rights Council and the Economic and Social Council, we conscientiously promote democracy, secularism, justice and the rule of law, and equal rights for women, children, minorities and other vulnerable groups. As a member of the executive bodies of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the United Nations Population Fund, UNICEF, UNESCO and the Food and Agriculture Organization, we are committed to setting global norms and standards in development practices. Since I believe that justice brings peace, in 1997, during my previous term as Prime Minister, I mediated the Chittagong Hill Tracts Peace Accord for the marginalized communities of the Hill Tracts region. The Accord, which was signed after intense discussions, ended a 20-year conflict that cost over 20,000 lives.”
2011-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 66 (2011)
“Our contribution to United Nations peacekeeping of 102,294 peacekeepers in 52 missions and 36 countries has sadly led to the loss of the lives of 103 brave Bangladeshis. Our involvement also includes the first all-women United Nations police unit in Haiti. As Non-Aligned Movement Coordinator in the Peacebuilding Commission, Bangladesh is always advocating in favour of peacebuilding, development and preventive diplomacy in post-conflict societies. Unfortunately, we remain woefully underrepresented at the planning and strategy-making levels of the Department of Peacekeeping Operations, which should be promptly redressed.”
2011-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 66 (2011)
“However, the successes of the United Nations have reinforced the belief that, in the twenty-first century, it remains the most legitimate and universally accepted international body with the ability to harness the global collective will necessary for the peaceful settlement of disputes through mediation. Bangladesh therefore commends the Secretary- General’s report on enhancing mediation and its support activities (S/2009/189) for promoting the better use of the United Nations mediation mandate, and co-sponsored resolution 65/283 on strengthening the role of mediation in the peaceful settlement of disputes, conflict prevention and resolution. To demonstrate its strong commitment to conflict resolution, Bangladesh has partnered in many United Nations endeavours for peace, democracy and development.”
2011-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 66 (2011)
“Emphasis on peaceful negotiations has also enabled Bangladesh to maintain an annual gross domestic product growth rate of 6 per cent, create thousands of jobs, reduce poverty and expand social safety net schemes to the poor, disadvantaged, elderly and deprived women. 41 11-51360 The role of the United Nations has changed since its establishment. The maintenance of international peace and security now includes the new challenges of intra-State ethnic strife, terrorism, transnational crimes, climate change, poverty, energy and water security, as well as the widening gap between the rich and the poor.”
2011-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 66 (2011)
“Therefore, justice at home and abroad is important for ensuring the peaceful mediation and settlement of disputes. My father and the father of my nation, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, who espoused the principles of “friendship towards all, malice towards none” and “peaceful settlement of disputes”, also believed in this, and declared it from this rostrum 37 years ago. Thus, justice for peace found its place in my Government’s domestic and foreign policy and has contributed to strengthening Bangladesh’s secular, democratic and progressive ideals. A strong foundation in the rule of law has also helped in the peaceful settlement of disputes with our neighbours and formed the basis of our participation in United Nations peacekeeping operations.”
2011-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 66 (2011)
“I warmly congratulate Mr. Al-Nasser on his well-deserved election as President of the General Assembly at its sixty-sixth session. I am confident that under his able and dynamic stewardship, we will achieve our goals. I thank former President Joseph Deiss for the success of the sixty-fifth session of the General Assembly. I also thank Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon for the wise selection of the theme “The role of mediation in the settlement of disputes by peaceful means” for this year’s general debate. I take this opportunity to welcome South Sudan as the 193rd Member of the United Nations and warmly congratulate the people of the newest State on attaining their freedom and independence. I believe that peace is the basis for development. I also believe that peace prevails when justice prevails.”
2011-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 66 (2011)
“Every passing day, the peoples of the world are being drawn closer together, as one village, with quickly developing technologies and new challenges such as climate change, terrorism and economic interdependence. Indeed, our destiny is now one, as are our burdens and responsibilities. It is now obvious that only by mobilizing and optimizing our synergies will it be possible for us to create a world of shared peace and prosperity. We have no alternative but to discard our self-centred, short-sighted interests and work in unison for a world that our children, and theirs, will inherit, so that they will remember us with fondness and in gratitude. May Bangladesh live forever. Long live the United Nations.”
2010-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 65 (2010)
“Our unflinching commitment to peace finds expression in our annual flagship Assembly resolution on the culture of peace (see resolution 64/80). Recent years have shown an extraordinary record of sponsorships because of the reference to the International Mother Language Day. Ever since the Day was adopted by UNESCO in recognition of the language martyrs who gave their lives in 1952 for Bangla, their mother tongue, it has been celebrated throughout the world with growing fervour every year. Since Bangla is spoken by nearly 300 million people worldwide and has a rich heritage in literature, history and other fields, our Parliament adopted a resolution requesting the United Nations to declare Bangla as one of its official languages. I fervently appeal to Member States for acceptance of our very legitimate request.”
2010-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 65 (2010)
“Since my Government assumed office, the maternal mortality rate has been reduced from 2.9 to 2.6 and infant mortality to such a significant extent that our successes have been recognized with an award by the United Nations. Indeed, despite the recent world food, energy, economic and climate change crises, Bangladesh, with the support of United Nations agencies and bilateral and multilateral partners, has made satisfactory progress. In fact, our achievement with respect to MDG 1, on poverty alleviation, MDG 2, on universal primary education, and MDG 3, on gender equality and women’s empowerment, are encouraging and on track. Our Government, through its sincere efforts, intends to raise 12 million people out of poverty, which would halve the number of people now living in that sad state by the MDG deadline of 2015.”
2010-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 65 (2010)
“Health is another area receiving special attention, with the implementation of the national health policy adopted during our previous term of office. This policy provides for the establishment of one community clinic for every 6,000 people. Our plan is to locate 18,000 such clinics in the first phase, to extend basic health services into people’s homes. For safe motherhood, a national strategy for maternal health has been adopted, with a programme to reduce the infant mortality rate to 15 from the current 54 per 1,000 live births. Our target is to complete 100 per cent immunization by the end of our present tenure of Government.”
2010-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 65 (2010)
“Our social safety nets also include programmes for minorities, the marginalized, the disabled and the mentally challenged; ashrayan, or homes for the homeless; the “one home, one farm” policy to alleviate poverty; and cash and food transfer programmes. A new policy provides for the employment of one member from every poor family. Another new initiative is the national services policy for providing youth and women with employment and skills development. Moreover, research opportunities have led to new discoveries, particularly with respect to climate- change-resilient crops. A recent success is genome sequencing of the jute fibre, ensuring improved quality 17 10-55109 of jute products, a biodegradable option to hazardous synthetic products.”
2010-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 65 (2010)
“At present, besides the Prime Minister, the leader of the opposition, the deputy leader and a whip, there are five other women Cabinet ministers and 45 members of Parliament in reserved seats. Moreover, 19 women members of Parliament have been directly elected. Women also occupy 30 per cent of reserved seats in all local governments. They are encouraged to participate in politics and administration, and are recruited in all professions, including the armed services. They are also serving in United Nations peacekeeping operations. We have made arrangements to provide pensions to distressed and widowed women, as well as residential accommodation for both men and women in old peoples’ homes.”
2010-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 65 (2010)
“Computer and Internet facilities are being provided free of charge to schools in order to familiarize students with their use. To encourage school attendance, we have started providing lunch to students and cash incentives to parents. Though Bangladesh has achieved the Millennium Development Goal target of gender equality at the secondary level, our plan is to provide free tuition to girls up to the undergraduate level. This is because we firmly believe that women’s equal involvement is vital for a nation’s development. Gender equity and human development are our top priority concerns. Our Government has revived the national women’s development policy, adopted during our last tenure of office, that is, 1996 to 2001.”
2010-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 65 (2010)
“Also being implemented is an aggressive e-leadership programme among members of Parliament, top policymakers, field administrators and local administrators. We had already transformed 100 Union Parishads to host e-centres in 2009, and we are now expediting the process to cover all 4,500 Union Parishads by the end of this year. In short, our Government is determined to achieve a digital Bangladesh and transform it into a middle-income country by 2021, the golden jubilee year of our nation’s independence. Simultaneously, our Government’s aim is to attain 100 per cent primary school enrolment by 2011 and 100 per cent literacy rate by 2014. Our highest budget allocation goes to education. Tuition and books are now free for students up to grade 12.”
2010-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 65 (2010)
“Our Government’s aim is also to use information and communications technology (ICT) to accelerate our socio-economic development. Therefore, we are implementing ICT Act 2009 and ICT Policy 2009 to build the requisite infrastructure and extend ICT to every nook and corner of Bangladesh. Already, educational institutions, local government institutions and rural communities are being connected to Internet services. The process includes an e-centre for rural communities, connecting 8,500 post offices; a high- tech park; a network of e governance; and efforts to strengthen the telecommunication network and satellite communication. Our e-services are now focused on improving agricultural information delivery, market access, education, health care, early warning systems for disasters, law and order, and social safety net payments.”
2010-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 65 (2010)
“However, amid the travails of the past years, Bangladesh has fared reasonably well in maintaining an annual GDP growth rate of 6 per cent. That was possible due to our pragmatic policies on food production, agriculture, rural development, inflation control and keeping food and essentials prices within reach of the poor. During our previous Government, from 1996 to 2001, our policies on food security made Bangladesh self-sufficient in food, which led to our winning the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations Ceres Award. This time around, with the implementation of the national food policy, aimed at stable prices of fuel, fertilizer, seeds and other farm inputs, our Government has succeeded again in ensuring sustained food supply to all.”
2010-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 65 (2010)
“Least developed countries also seek a speedy end to the World Trade Organization’s Doha Round of the World Trade Organization trade negotiations and fulfilment of the commitments by the countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development to provide 0.7 per cent of gross national income to official development assistance, of which 0.2 per cent will be directed at least developed countries, as affirmed in the Brussels Programme of Action. The least developed countries have also been affected by unemployment at home and by obstacles to migration for jobs abroad. Since remittances form a significant part of their gross domestic product, 10-55109 16 economic recovery measures should assure employment opportunities and all rights of migrant workers, especially those from least developed countries.”
2010-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 65 (2010)
“While the Bretton Woods institutions can deal with long-term development assistance, Bangladesh proposes the establishment of a special fund under United Nations auspices to deal exclusively with Special Drawing Rights and grants. We also propose that all stakeholders respect country-led ownership of all development projects, as enshrined in the Accra Agenda for Action. The least developed countries surely welcome the development assistance they receive from developed countries. They would, however, benefit more through receiving liberal trade concessions such as duty and quota-free market access, trade capacity-building, et cetera.”
2010-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 65 (2010)
“I also urge them to adopt, at COP 16, measures to ameliorate the adverse impacts of climate change on the most vulnerable countries, like Bangladesh, small island developing States like the Maldives, and landlocked countries like Bhutan and Nepal, among other least developed countries (LDCs). The world is yet to recover from the world economic crisis, and LDCs as well as developed countries are suffering from reduced exports. Those crises are due to inequity and injustice resulting from an unfair international structure, which remains mostly unchanged. The Bretton Woods institutions must now accommodate a greater presence of developing countries, especially least developed countries.”
2010-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 65 (2010)
“An immediate measure has been the establishment of a Climate Change Trust Fund with our own resources, and a Climate Change Resilience Fund with assistance from development partners. At the international level, at the fifteenth Climate Change Conference of Parties — COP 15 — last year, we worked hard for a legally binding agreement and for an international climate fund to assist countries most vulnerable to climate change. The compromise was the Copenhagen Accord, which has so far failed to deliver its promises. Therefore, I urge the world leaders at the sixteenth Conference — COP 16 — this year to conclude, in their wisdom, a positive agreement based on the Bali Plan of Action, with agreed cuts in greenhouse gas emissions and real contributions to the international climate fund.”
2010-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 65 (2010)
“Those points include dredging major rivers to restrict flooding, recovering cultivable lands for settling displaced people and increasing capacity to produce more grain foods. Other plans include afforesting 20 per cent of the land area by 2015, creating a huge carbon sink; protecting biodiversity; strengthening coasts and river banks with green belts; modernizing disaster management with community participation; developing crop varieties attuned to climate change; changing agricultural practices; using clean coal technology; and adopting nuclear power and renewable energy. Meanwhile, over 14,000 shelters for cyclone victims have been strategically located to cope with cyclonic disasters. Implementing the action plan requires enormous funds.”
2010-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 65 (2010)
“The increasing frequency and ferocity of floods, cyclones, droughts and other natural disasters caused by that phenomenon continue to create havoc through the lives lost and the resources destroyed. Consequently, attaining the Millennium Development Goals is becoming a more difficult challenge. Climate migrants are already overcrowding our cities, putting great stress on our limited infrastructure facilities and causing social disorder. The situation could become catastrophic with a one-metre rise in the sea level due to global warming. That would inundate one quarter of Bangladesh, impacting 11 per cent of our population and leading to mass migration. To meet those challenges, we have adopted a 134-point adaptation and mitigation action plan.”
2010-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 65 (2010)