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Ensure Covid vaccine for all countries at a time: PM Hasina

Human Rights Report
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on 26 September asked the world community to treat the Covid-19 vaccine as a 'global public good' and urged the United Nations to ensure its timely availability of the vaccine to all countries at a time.
"We hope that the Covid-19 vaccine will soon be available in the world. It's imperative to treat the vaccine as a 'global public good.' We need to ensure the timely availability of this vaccine to all countries at the same time," she said
The Prime Minister made the plea while virtually addressing the general debate at the 75th United Nations General Assembly in Bangla like the previous years following the footprints of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
She said if Bangladesh is provided with the technical know-how and patents, the pharmaceutical industry of Bangladesh has the capacity to go for vaccine production on a mass scale.
Sheikh Hasina said the pandemic is a stark reminder that the fates of the human being are interconnected and that 'no one is secured until everyone is secured'.
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Bangladesh elected executive board member of 3 UN agencies

Human Rights Report:

Bangladesh has been elected member at the Executive Board of three United Nations agencies.
The elections to the eight organizations of the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) were held at UN headquarters in New York on Monday.
Permanent Mission of the People's Republic of Bangladesh to the United Nations issued a press release on the victory on Tuesday.
The release said Bangladesh has won three major elections and become the executive board member of the UNDP, UNFPA and UNOPS, securing 53 out of 54 votes for the term 2021-2023.
The newly elected board will commence its work from January 2021.
The victory is the demonstration of trust and confidence that Bangladesh enjoys due to its strong legacy of working together with the UN entities and their Executive Boards towards socio-economic emancipation of the country under visionary leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, it said.
Bangladesh is also current member at Executive Boards of the UNICEF and UN Women.
Bangladesh Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador Rabab Fatima is the current President of UNICEF Executive Board.
 

 

Bangladesh-India cooperation above mere transactions: Riva Ganguly   

Human Rights Report:
She made the remarks while addressing an online seminar marking the 150th Birth Anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, said a press release issued by the Indian High Commission in Dhaka on Friday.
October 2, 2020 will mark the finale of the two-year long commemoration of the 150th Birth Anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, said the release.
Speaking on the occasion High Commissioner Riva Ganguly Das said: "Gandhi Ashrams in Noakhali, Jamalpur, Atrai and Dohar are the torch bearers of the Gandhian principles in Bangladesh."
Paying tributes to both Mahatma Gandhi and Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, she said: "In the present day, India and Bangladesh are partners in development and that the cooperation transcends mere transactions and is built on trust and mutual respect."
She also said that India looks forward to the joint commemorations of the 50th anniversary of the Liberation War and the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between India and Bangladesh.
Noakhali MP HM Ibrahim, President of Gandhi Ashram Trust Bangladesh Swadesh Roy, Chairman of Mahatma Gandhi Smarak Sadan Syed Abul Maksud, Director of Gandhi Ashram Trust Noakhali Naba Kumar Raha, Prof. Aminul Islam from Gandhi Ashram Atrai in Naogaon and Hilol Sarkar from Gandhi Ashram in Jamalpur and Md Fazlul Haq of Gandhi Ashram in Dohar also attended the webinar.

 

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WHO wants world leaders to unite
 

Human Rights Report:
World Health Organization director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the new coronavirus was still spreading around the planet precisely due to the gaps between the major players in combatting the disease, reports AFP.
Though the UN health agency declared a public health emergency of international concern - its highest level of alarm - on January 30, Tedros first described the outbreak as a pandemic on March 11, capturing public attention.
Reflecting on this point in the crisis during a virtual news conference, Tedros said: "What worries me most is… a lack of solidarity.
"Because when solidarity lacks, and when we're divided, that's a very good opportunity for the virus - and that's why it's still spreading.
"That's what worries me and that's what I ask the world to do.
"We will need solidarity and we will need global leadership, especially of the major powers in the world. That's how we can defeat this virus."
The virus has killed more than 900,000 people and infected at least 27.9 million since the outbreak emerged in China last December.
The United States is pulling out of the WHO, with President Donald Trump accusing it of being too slow to declare a pandemic and too close to China.
And the WHO-led ACT-Accelerator progamme, a global collaboration to hunt for Covid-19 vaccines and treatments, has so far only received less than a tenth of the required funding.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said Thursday that the near $3 billion contributed so far had been critical for the initial phase since the accelerator's launch four months ago.
However, $35 billion more was needed to shift from start-up to scale-up - beginning with $15 billion in the next three months.
WHO emergencies director Michael Ryan said that in the last six months, the pandemic had hit the world hard - but warned the end was not yet in sight.
"We mourn the loss of the people who have been lost, we celebrate the bravery of our front-line health workers… we stand with those people who are feeling the pain from this pandemic," he said.
Ryan said the WHO would now commit to continuing to fight the virus, to suppress transmission and to develop and deliver a safe vaccine.
"We can only commit to do what is humanly possible," he said.
 

BSF vows to bring down border

killings to zero

Human Rights Report:

Indian Border Security Force (BSF) on Saturday expressed its deep commitment to taking extra precautionary measures to bring down border killings to zero.
Director General of the BSF, Rakesh Asthana, emerging from the just-ended BSF-BGB talks, gave the assurance while addressing a press conference at the BGB headquarters. During the talks, BGB made it clear that there is no camp of any Indian insurgent group in Bangladesh. It also told the BSF that Bangladesh government would not allow India to construct the newly-designed single row fence on the border.
During the talks, the BSF praised the cooperation of BGB and other security forces of Bangladesh against Indian Insurgent Groups (IIGs) and sought further cooperation from BGB for destruction of reported hideouts of IIGs in Bangladesh.
In response, the BGB's DG assured that there is no IIGs camp or hideout inside Bangladesh.
He further mentioned that Bangladesh does not allow her soil to be used by any entity or element hostile to any country, particularly India, and assured them of providing all possible help in this regard, the record of the meeting said.
During the talks, the issue of the construction of newly designed single row fence by India within 150 yards of the international border (IB) was raised but BGB's DG pointed out that Bangladesh government had already urged India not to construct this fence.
Terming the killings of unarmed people on the border 'very unfortunate' BSF's DG Rakesh Asthana said the killing of civilians on the border by no means is justifiable and the BSF has been given strict instructions that lethal arms not be used against civilians on the border.

 

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