New York- Observing that terrorism and violent extremism remain as two major impediments to global peace and development, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Wednesday called for a unity of all the countries to effectively address the threats.

“Terrorists don’t have any religion. Terrorism and violent extremism
are global challenges. All the countries should be united to
effectively address these," she said.

Hasina was delivering her speech at the general debate of the 70th
session of the United Nations General Assembly at the UN
headquarters. Like the previous years, she delivered it in Bangla.

"I urge the comity of nations to renew our collective resolve to
achieve a peaceful, stable and prosperous world free from poverty and
inequality, violence and extremism, climate change and conflict, and
oppression and injustice," she told her audience.

The Prime Minister also noted that it would not be possible to
sustain the development endeavours if climate change cannot be
effectively dealt with. "The new development agenda makes it clear
that all our actions need to be underpinned by our strong commitment
to protect and preserve our planet, our biodiversity and our climate.
We have only a small window of opportunity, and we must succeed to
set the world on a safer, greener and more prosperous path," she said.

Hasina said this is a critical year for sustainable development. The
Financing for Development Summit in Addis and the just concluded UN
Development Summit here have ushered in a new hope for people around
the world. "With our drive to arrive at a meaningful climate change
agreement in Paris this year, we hope to transform our future by
ending poverty, limiting climate change and preserving our planet."

Noting that regional cooperation is critical to fostering sustainable
development as well to achieving peaceful and stable societies, she
said Bangladesh has taken the lead in building regional cooperation
processes such as Saarc, Bimstec and BCIM-EC. "We’ve also taken
initiatives to develop infrastructures to enhance trade and
people-to-people contacts among Bangladesh, Bhutan, India and Nepal
(BBIN)."

In recent times, the Prime Minister said, the world has been
witnessing unprecedented migration and human mobility reshaping
history and geography, as migration has been recognised as a key
enabler of development in the 2030 Development Agenda.

"Cooperation is essential among our countries to harness the full
potential of migration. With this objective in mind, we’ve decided to
lead the Global Forum on Migration and Development in 2016," she
said.

As the country has done during the MDG-era, she said, Bangladesh will
like to lead by example implementation of the SDGs in Bangladesh. In
this regard, she said Bangladesh is currently developing the next
Five Year Plan for 2016-2020, giving due importance to the SDG
framework.

"Given the ambition reflected on SDGs, we surely need to scale up
mobilisation of resources, public and private, domestic and
international. It’s essential for developed countries to fulfill
their ODA commitment of 0.7 percent of their GNI to developing
countries, and 0.2 percent to LDCs," she said.

The Prime Minister went on saying, "We also need to address the
challenges face by developing countries in accessing environmentally
sound technologies. Without transfer of such technologies and
capacity-building, I’m afraid, many development goals and targets
will remain unachieved."

She also noted that her government is determined to ensure that no
one is left behind in their aspiration to build a resilient, peaceful
and prosperous society. "We believe sustainable development can’t be
achieved in the absence of durable peace and security. We remain
committed as ever to upholding peace and rule of law and end a
‘culture of impunity."

In this spirit, Hasina said, her government is pursuing the trial of
culprits of war crimes - crimes against humanity, rape, and genocide
committed - during the 1971 Liberation War. "Our government has
attached utmost importance to preserving religious harmony and
tolerance that have nurtured our social fabric through ages."

Talking about the UN peacekeeping mission, she said over the years,
UN peacekeeping and peace building have emerged as its flagship
activities. Bangladesh is proud of being associated with these
endeavours as a leading troop contributor.

Hasina said the country's valiant peacekeepers have made their mark
in 54 peacekeeping missions in 40 countries so far. "We’ve the
distinction of having the highest number of female police in UN
peacekeeping missions. Our contribution to UN peace operations has
made us a reliable partner in UN’s peace initiatives."

Highlighting various successes of her government in different
social-economic sectors, she said Bangladesh is widely recognised
today as a role model for the developing world. "Bangladesh has
graduated from the UNDP’s low human development category to medium,
and also the World Bank’s lower-income country status to lower-middle
income one."

The Prime Minister said Bangladesh's lead role in the UN in promoting
the rights and wellbeing of persons affected by Autism and other
neuro-developmental disabilities emanate from the government’s
efforts to build an inclusive society.

UNB/RI