"The efforts over the past 50 years have helped to build Bangladesh, to place it firmly on the multilateral stage, and to move ahead" - Ms. Gwyn Lewis

Thank you for joining us for the launch of the exhibition “A Promise for Future Generations: 50 years of Bangladesh in the United Nations”, held on the occasion of UN Day 2024.

It is a great pleasure to welcome you all this evening to the new UN House, which will become Dhaka HQ for 12 UN entities starting this December. 

The images in this exhibition date back to the early 1970s when the UN first came to the assistance of refugees fleeing the former East Pakistan, all the way through to the momentous events of 2024. 

With photo contributions from the official UN archive, from UN entities working in Bangladesh, and from the image library of Drik Gallery, we have sought to tell two intertwined stories: the growth of Bangladesh as a UN member state across five decades; and the role that the UN has played to support the people of Bangladesh over the same period. The exhibition includes images of Bangladeshi peacekeepers deployed to UN missions overseas, and a series of moving photos depicting the generosity that Bangladesh has shown to the Rohingya people. 

You will note that the title of the exhibition is forward looking.

More than anything, the partnership between the UN and Bangladesh is an investment for future generations.  

The official anniversary of Bangladesh joining the UN as a member state fell on 17 September this year, just a few days before the Summit of the Future took place in New York. The outcome documents of the Summit, including the Pact for the Future and the annex “Declaration for Future Generations”, chart a revived multilateral course.

In looking towards our next decade of partnership, the UN and Bangladesh together have a duty to today’s young people and children to continue to work towards achieving the vision of the Summit.

We just farewelled the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Turk, who visited Bangladesh this week.

In his remarks to students at Dhaka University on Tuesday, he said it is young people who have led the way to the “historic opportunity” that Bangladesh now has before it. The High Commissioner said that it is young people who give him hope for the future.

In preparing these remarks tonight, I wanted to share some thoughts from the young UN staff in my own office. When asked to reflect on their experiences working for the UN in Bangladesh, they speak of pride in being part of an organization dedicated to the progress and empowerment of the Bangladeshi people, particularly women and children. They describe the UN-Bangladesh partnership as a source of hope and energy, driving progress towards a prosperous and equitable Bangladesh. They speak of the privilege of engaging deeply with this country's development coordination landscape. 

We are proud to mark this UN Day in solidarity with the men and women, young people, girls and boys of Bangladesh. 

The efforts over the past 50 years have helped to build this country, to place it firmly on the multilateral stage, and to move ahead in leaps and bounds towards the Sustainable Development Goals. And it is to the youth of Bangladesh that we would like to dedicate this exhibition because it is their vision that we are duty bound to take forward.

I would like to thank the colleagues from across the UN agencies who have worked to pull together this wonderful display under the stewardship of Dr. Shahidul Alam and the dedicated team at Drik Gallery. Thank you to the Additional Secretary for being here as our Chief Guest and to all of you for joining us. Congratulations to the Interim Government on the 50th anniversary of Bangladesh in the United Nations, and happy UN Day to all!