PM flies for NY to attend UNGA

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina left the city on Friday for New York to attend the 74th UN General Assembly where she may place new proposals to find a solution to the long-drawn Rohingya crisis as it is affecting Bangladesh badly, report agencies.

A VVIP flight of Biman Bangladesh Airlines, carrying the premier and her entourage members, took off from Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport for Abu Dhabi at 3:35pm.

Liberation War Affairs Minister AKM Mozammel Haque, Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader, Jatiya Sangsad Chief Whip Noor-e-Alam Liton Chowdhury and State Minister for Civil Aviation and Tourism Md Mahbub Ali were present at the airport to see the prime minister off.

The flight landed at the Abu Dhabi International Airport in the UAE on Friday evening.

After a one-day stopover in the UAE capital of Abu Dhabi, Sheikh Hasina will fly to New York by an Etihad Airways flight at 10:30 am (local time) on September 22.

Mohammad Ziauddin, Bangladesh Ambassador to the USA, and Masud Bin Momen, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Bangladesh to the UN, will welcome her there.

On September 23 (Monday), Hasina will co-chair the multistakeholder panel to be held in parallel to the High-level meeting on Universal Health Coverage at ECOSOC Chamber. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez will also attend it as the co-chair.

The theme of the panel is UHC as driver of equity, inclusive development and prosperity for all.

She might deliver a national statement at the plenary session of the high-level meeting on Universal Health Coverage at the Trusteeship Council, deliver a statement at the Climate Action Summit on the theme 'Climate Action Summit 2019: A Race We Can Win: A Race We Must Win at General Assembly Hall and attend Recognising Political Leadership for Immunisation in Bangladesh organised by GAVI at Conference Room 1 in the UNHQ.

On September 24, the Prime Minister will hold a bilateral meeting with her Indian counterpart Narendra Modi at the Kennedy Room, Lotte New York Palace Hotel.

She will have a meeting with Queen Maxima, UN Secretary-General's Special Advocate for Inclusive Finance for Development, at UNHQ Booth, attend a side-event to be hosted by Global Commission on Adaptation at Conference Room 7, UNHQ, State Luncheon hosted by the UN Secretary General at North Delegate's Lounge.

She will also attend the high-level side-event on the situation of Rohingya minority in Myanmar, organised by the Permanent Mission of Bangladesh and the OIC Secretariat at Conference Room 11 at UN HQ, Leadership Matters- Relevance of Mahatma Gandhi in the Contemporary World at ECOSOC Chamber, UNHQ and the Reception by the President of the United States, Donald Trump at Lotte New York Palace Hotel.

On Wednesday, Sheikh Hasina will co-moderate leader's dialogue 4 on "Localising the SDGs" at the High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (SDGs summit) at the Trusteeship Council.

On the same day, she will likely hold a meeting with former Australian prime minister and Chair, Sanitation and Water for All Kevin Rudd at Bilateral Meeting Room, Lotte New York Palace Hotel. She will also attend dinner at the Bangladesh House.

On September 26, the Prime Minister will have meetings with Alex V Volkov, Chairman, ExxonMobil LNG Market Development Inc at the Bilateral Meeting Room, Lotte New York Palace Hotel, Irina Bokova at the Bilateral Meeting Room, Lotte New York Palace Hotel, Bill Gates, Co-Chair, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, at the Bilateral Meeting Room, Lotte New York Palace Hotel, ICC Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda at the Bilateral Meeting Room, Lotte New York Palace Hotel and attend Luncheon Roundtable Meeting, organised by the US Chamber of Commerce at the Holmes, Lotte New York Palace.

She will also be present in the event "An evening with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina" organised by Unicef at the Labouisse Hall, Unicef House.

On Friday, Sheikh Hasina will attend the high-level side-event on "Sustainable Universal Health Coverage: Comprehensive Primary care inclusive of mental health and disabilities" organised by the Permanent Mission of Bangladesh at the Conference Room 1, UNHQ and address the 74th Session of the General Assembly, General Debate.

She is scheduled to attend a press briefing at the Permanent Mission of Bangladesh in New York on the morning of September 28.