PM Hasina leaves Finland for New York to attend UNGA

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Sunday left Finland for the US to attend the 76th session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.

The VVIP chartered flight of Biman Bangladesh Airlines carrying the PM left Helsinki-Vantaa Airport at 4:16pm local time, said PM’s Press Secretary Ihsanul Karim.

Bangladesh Ambassador in Finland (non-resident) Md Nazmul Islam saw Sheikh Hasina off at the airport.

The flight is scheduled to land at John F Kennedy International Airport, New York at 6pm local time.

The current trip abroad is the prime minister’s first since the Covid-19 outbreak in March last year.

She is going to join the UNGA for the 18th time as the head of government of Bangladesh and will address the UNGA general debate on September 24.

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Besides, Sheikh Hasina will attend the opening session of the UNGA general debate on September 21 and other side-line events at the UN headquarters (UNHQ) from September 20-24. She will also hold talks with a number of leaders during her stay in New York. 

The prime minister is expected to return home on October 1.

She will stay at the Hotel Lotte Palace during her stay in New York from September 19-25.

On Monday, the prime minister will attend a closed-door meeting for a small group of HOSs/HOGs on climate change at the UNHQ at 9am. 

She will then plant a tree and dedicate a bench at the UN Gardens at 11:30am in honour of the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman on the occasion of his birth centenary, and lay a floral wreath at the Peace Memorial at the North Lawn of UNHQ at 11:50am.

The same day, Sheikh Hasina will also sit in separate bilateral meetings with EU Council President Charles Michel at 12:30pm local time and with Barbados Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley at 2:45pm at her place of residence. Besides, she will join a virtual event of Sustainable Development Solution Network at 4pm.

On Tuesday, the prime minister will attend the opening session of the UNGA general debate at 9pm, sit in a bilateral meeting with Denmark Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen in the afternoon and join Business Roundtable on US-Bangladesh Business Council at 4pm at the place of residence.

On Wednesday, Sheikh Hasina will virtually attend three events. The events are the high-level meeting of the UNGA to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the adoption of the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action at 9am, White House Global Covid-19 Summit: Ending the Pandemic and building back better, and a high level side event on Rohingya crisis: imperatives for a sustainable solution at 3pm.

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On Thursday, September 23, the Bangladesh PM will attend two programs by sending pre-recorded statements. These are the “Leaders’ Network on delivering on the UN common agenda: Action to achieve equality and inclusion” to be organised by the Swedish Mission to the UN at 8am, and the Food Systems Summit, as part of the decade of action to achieve the sustainable development goals (SDGs) by 2030, convened by the UNSG at 1pm.

Sheikh Hasina will also sit in four separate bilateral meetings with Queen Máxima of the Netherlands at the place of residence, UN Secretary-General António Guterres at 1:30pm, Maldives President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih at 2pm and Vietnam President Nguyễn Xuân Phúc at 2:40pm at the UNHQ.

On Friday, September 24, the Bangladesh prime minister will address the UNGA 76 general debate in the morning, sit in a bilateral meeting with Netherlands Prime Minister Mark Rutte at UNHQ, and will virtually join a community program.

On Saturday, September 25, Sheikh Hasina will depart New York for Washington DC by a Biman flight at 8am. She will stay in Washington DC from 25 to 30 September.

Sheikh Hasina is scheduled to leave Washington for Dhaka on 30 September and will return home on October 1 after a short stopover in Finland.