MUHAMMAD YUNUS, Chief Adviser of the interim Government of Bangladesh, said the Pact for the Future and the Declaration on Future Generations could help in setting pathways beyond the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.  “I stand in this parliament of nations thanks to an epochal transformation that Bangladesh witnessed this July and August,” he stressed, adding that the uprising led by students and youth was initially aimed at ending discrimination.  “The people’s movement left an estimated over 800 martyrs in the hands of the autocratic regime,” he said, calling upon the international community to engage with the ‘new Bangladesh’ and pledging to remain an active proponent of multilateralism, with the United Nations at the core.  “As the third largest troop-contributing country, our peacekeepers had served across 63 Missions in 43 countries to date.  One hundred and sixty-eight Bangladeshi peacekeepers had laid their lives, from Bosnia to Congo,” he noted, expressing hope that Bangladesh defence forces would continue to be called upon in future UN peace operations regardless of the challenges or circumstances.

Turning to climate change, he observed that the record-breaking heat wave this summer starkly reminded the world of the climate-induced challenges.  “What we need is climate justice — so that the irresponsible choices or indifferent actions or harms caused are accounted for,” he emphasized.  “As I speak, over 5 million people witnessed a most devastating flood in their living memory in eastern Bangladesh,” he added, urging for channelling robust resources for climate adaptation in climate-vulnerable countries like Bangladesh and calling for access to life-saving technologies, particularly in agriculture, water or public health, where even a trickle of modest solutions or innovations can save millions.  He stressed that the world needs to engage on a shared vision of ‘three zeroes’ — zero poverty, zero unemployment and zero net carbon emissions.

“The genocide in Gaza continues unabated despite global concerns and condemnation,” he went on to say, underscoring that the situation in Palestine just does not concern the Arabs or Muslims at large — rather the entire humanity.  “All those responsible for the crimes against humanity against the Palestinian people must be held accountable,” he said, urging to implement the two-State solution that remains the only path to bring lasting peace in the Middle East.  “The two and a half year long war in Ukraine has claimed far too many lives,” he continued, adding that this war has impacted far and wide, even lending deeper economic implications in Bangladesh, and urging both sides to pursue dialogue to resolve the differences and end the war. He also reminded that Bangladesh has been hosting over 1.2 million Rohingyas on humanitarian ground, incurring significant social, economic and environmental costs.  “The protracted crisis in Myanmar also poses growing risks with national and regional security implications for Bangladesh,” he said, calling for the creation of an environment for dignified and sustainable return of the Rohingyas to their homeland.