The current worldwide pandemic has uncovered shortcomings and the delicacy of the United Nations system finished up an international webinar hosted from Dhaka.
Regardless of the UN’s inability to issues, for example, Rohingya repatriation and furthermore fatalities to peacekeepers, the Bangladesh authorities iterated the nation’s responsibility to the UN’s peace-building and peace-keeping mandate.
“Bangladesh is prepared to send its peacekeepers in the briefest conceivable time and in the most troublesome conditions,” peruses the outline of procedures of the two-day international webinar on “The UN in Times of People’s Needs: Rethinking Multilateralism” organized by the Center for Peace Studies (CPS), North South University and “the United Nations in Bangladesh” on Wednesday and Thursday.
It said for the UN, “there remains much to be done for the people, in particular in the areas of preventing conflict, gross human rights violations and genocides.”
The summary, however, observed that the UN is increasingly becoming dysfunctional in preventing armed conflict, genocide, geopolitical rivalries, inequality within and among the states.
“Government and Civil Society collaboration is the call of the day to rescue the UN from being irrelevant,” according to the summary read out by North South University Vice-Chancellor Professor Atiqul Islam.
It said despite pandemic-driven uneasiness, the majority of the people continue to pin their hope on the UN and international cooperation.
Participants from home and abroad recognized Bangladesh’s humanitarian response to the Rohingya situation and also appreciated the country’s indigenous programmes to tackle humanitarian disasters.
At the concluding session on Thursday evening, Planning Minister M. A. Mannan, however, pointed out that “our trust in the UN has eroded over the years”.
He said the UN has not been successful in peace-building for the Rohingya people and also in dealing with the issue of the coronavirus vaccine which, he believes, should have been the common property of mankind.
State Minister of Foreign Affairs Md. Shahriar Alam described Bangladesh as the “poster child” of the United Nations in terms of its achievements and commitment and reiterated Dhaka’s multilateralism initiated by Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and followed by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
He insisted that the UN should reach out to millions who felt left out of the system.
UN Resident Coordinator Mia Seppo appreciated Bangladesh’s role in the UN and contribution to its activities and urged actors to continue their efforts for making improvements.
Also read: Three years in review: No end in sight to Rohingya crisis
At the two-day conference, there was a call for a “People’s UN” breaking away from a club for few.
The summary of proceedings called for joining and supporting the global civil society initiative including to “Together First” and Accountability, Coherence, and Transparency (ACT) and the Global Governance Forum to make the UN effective and inclusive.
Photo credit: UNB
News source: UNB
