Mohammed Parvez Imdad

The current session needs to build up on previous discussions and resolutions on the Rohingya crisis over the last few years.

Amid the ongoing global inflation and financial instability, the upcoming national budget has to be demand-driven and needs-based.

The 76th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) is set to open tomorrow. The secretary-general has already outlined a well-articulated and focused 10-point agenda for discussion that covers several broad challenges the world needs to overcome—ranging from poverty to climate change and adaptation, as well as SDG implementation.

Bangladesh has demonstrated significant economic resilience, despite the surge of the Covid-19 virus. However, we need to envision an inclusive, multi-sectoral and integrated roadmap to effectively combat the impact of the pandemic, and move ahead with the growth trajectory.

Agriculture has consistently been the largest sector in Bangladesh, as in several other developing economies. About 50 percent of the population are employed in this sector and about 70 percent people overall depend on agriculture for their livelihood.

It is encouraging to know that the World Health Organization (WHO) is sending a mission to Wuhan in Hubei Province in China for the review and assessment of the origin and reasons of Covid-19, and China has endorsed this mission.

The Nobel Committee awarded this year’s Nobel Peace Prize to World Food Program (WFP) “for its efforts to combat hunger, for its contribution to bettering conditions for peace in conflict-affected areas and for acting as a driving force in efforts to prevent the use of hunger as a weapon of war and conflict.”

As the Covid-19 pandemic continues and it’s second wave has already hit several countries, the need and urgency for the much expected vaccine has become critically more important than before.