Dhaka: United Nations Secretary-General Ant³nio Guterres is set to arrive in Dhaka this afternoon on a four-day official visit at the invitation of Chief Adviser Professor Dr Muhammad Yunus. An Emirates flight (EK-586) carrying Guterres will land at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport at 5:00 pm today, with Foreign Affairs Adviser Md Touhid Hossain receiving him before proceeding to his place of residence at the InterContinental Hotel.
According to Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha, on Friday, Guterres is scheduled for meetings with Foreign Affairs Adviser Hossain and Dr Khalilur Rahman, the High Representative on Rohingya Issues and Priority Matters, at the hotel at 9:00 am. Following this, he will meet Chief Adviser Dr Yunus at the Chief Adviser’s Office at 10:00 am. Later, Guterres will travel to Cox’s Bazar on a commercial flight to visit the Rohingya camps, where he will be received by Disaster Management and Relief Adviser Faruk E Azam at the Cox’s Bazar Airport.
In Cox’s Bazar, Guterres will join Dr Yunus for an Iftar with around one lakh Rohingyas, interacting with community leaders and visiting several facilities at the camps. These include the Watch Tower, Learning Centre, Multi-purpose Service Centre, and a jute production site. The UN chief is also likely to engage with Rohingya youth and children during his visit. He will return to Dhaka the same evening.
On Saturday, the UN Secretary-General will visit the UN Common Premises in Dhaka, where he will raise the UN official flag and observe a photo exhibition marking 50 years of Bangladesh-UN relations. He will also attend a meeting with UN staff and join a roundtable discussion on Bangladesh’s reform process at the InterContinental Hotel. Guterres is expected to participate in a dialogue with youth and meet with civil society members, followed by a joint media briefing with Foreign Affairs Adviser Hossain. Chief Adviser Dr Yunus will host an Iftar and dinner in Guterres’ honor.
On Sunday, Guterres will depart Dhaka at 9:55 am, with Dr Khalilur Rahman present at the airport to see him off. The visit aims to highlight Bangladesh’s diplomatic stature and address pressing challenges like the Rohingya issue. In a recent letter to Yunus, Guterres emphasized the importance of an upcoming high-level conference on Rohingya Muslims and other minorities in Myanmar, aiming to renew global focus and develop broader solutions. He also mentioned the UN’s ongoing efforts to support Bangladesh as a host to the Rohingya and the guidance provided to UN country teams to maximize humanitarian aid.