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Published : 26 Sep 2025, 09:39 PM
Chief Advisor Muhammad Yunus, one year into leading Bangladesh’s interim government, is delivering a speech at the United Nations General Assembly as leader of 170 million people.
His address began at 8:30pm Bangladesh time on Friday during the 80th session of the UNGA in New York.
This is the second time he is speaking in Bangla as the head of government before world leaders.
In his address at the General Assembly Hall, Yunus is presenting the interim government's reform agenda, the aspiration for a mass uprising in July 2024, the commitment to hold a free and fair election in February 2026, accountability for the July killings, and the ongoing Rohingya crisis.
This year, as the UN turns 80, the session is themed: “Better together: 80 years and more for peace, development and human rights.”
The chief advisor arrived in New York on Sept 23 to attend the session and other high-level meetings.
His delegation this year includes six political leaders: BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, BNP’s Acting Chairman’s Foreign Affairs Advisor Humayun Kabir, Jamaat-e-Islami’s deputy chief Syed Abdullah Muhammad Taher, National Citizen Party (NCP) Secretary Akhter Hossen, NCP Joint Convenor Tasnim Jara, who joined from Dhaka, and Jamaat leader Nakibur Rahman Tarek, who joined from the US.
Yunus’s visit to the UN with leaders of major parties is unprecedented in Bangladesh.
On the sidelines of the UNGA, he met Queen Maxima of the Netherlands and Queen Mathilde of Belgium.
He also attended a reception in honour of world leaders, where he met US President Donald Trump and UN Secretary-General António Guterres.
Over the past few days, he also met Albanian President Bajram Begaj, Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani, Botswana President Duma Gideon Boko, Finland President Alexander Stubb, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.
Other meetings included former UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, World Bank President Ajay Banga, WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo, Club de Madrid President and former Slovenian President Danilo Türk, US special envoy for South and Central Asia Sergio Gor, who has also been nominated as ambassador to India.
At the annual high-level Global Education Dinner hosted by Theirworld, Yunus received the Unlock Big Change Award. He has also joined several other high-level conferences and meetings.
On Sept 30, Yunus is scheduled to attend a high-level meeting chaired by the UNGA president on the situation of Rohingya Muslims and other minority groups in Myanmar.
He is due to return home on Oct 2.
