Chief Adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus has left Dhaka early Sunday (September 22) for New York to attend the 80th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA).

He left Dhaka at 1:40 am on an Emirates Airlines flight from Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport. 

According to the official itinerary, Yunus is scheduled to arrive in New York on September 22 and deliver his address to the General Assembly on September 26.

During the high-level visit, the Chief Adviser will attend a reception hosted by UN Secretary-General António Guterres and another by US President Donald Trump. 

He is also set to hold bilateral meetings with world leaders on the sidelines of the UNGA and participate in several side events.

Accompanying him on the visit are six political leaders, including BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, Jamaat-e-Islami’s Nayeb-e-Ameer Syed Abdullah Mohammad Taher, National Citizen Party (NCP) Member Secretary Akhtar Hossain, Senior Joint Member Secretary Dr Tasnim Jara, Tareque Rahman’s Foreign Affairs Adviser Humayun Kabir, and Dr Nakibur Rahman Tareque, son of former Jamaat leader Motiur Rahman Nizami, who will join the delegation from the United States.

Foreign ministry officials describe this year’s UN session as particularly significant for Bangladesh. On September 30, the UN General Assembly will host its first-ever High-Level Conference on the Situation of Rohingya Muslims and Other Minorities in Myanmar, chaired by the President of the General Assembly. The landmark conference follows a proposal put forward by Professor Yunus at the UN last year, which received unanimous support from member states.

In preparation for this event, Bangladesh hosted a preparatory partner meeting in Cox’s Bazar last month, bringing together international stakeholders and Rohingya representatives to formulate a roadmap toward a durable solution.

In his General Assembly address, Professor Yunus is expected to cover a wide range of global issues, including peacekeeping, climate change and climate justice, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), illicit financial flows, safe migration and migrant rights, responsible technology transfer in the era of artificial intelligence, and a ceasefire and lasting peace in Palestine.

The Chief Adviser is expected to return to Bangladesh on October 2.

SMS/