New York, 03 May 2023:
“Almost six years have passed since the Rohingya minorities were expelled from their
ancestral land in Myanmar. No effective action was taken by the Security Council to remedy the
situation; rather the Council has remained a mute witness to its continued deterioration”- said
Ambassador Muhammad Abdul Muhith, Permanent Representative of Bangladesh to the United
Nations in New York while speaking today at the Security Council open debate on “Futureproofing
Trust for Sustaining Peace” held at the United Nations Headquarters.
Referring to the growing mistrust between people and the global institutions, Ambassador
Muhith urged the Security Council to demonstrate unity and decisiveness in addressing visible
threats to peace and protecting the most vulnerable, such as, the Rohingya minorities.
“In order to build trust, the Council must reverse the course of inactions”, he added.
In his statement, Permanent Representative Muhith referred to the critical role of
peacekeepers in building trust among communities and called for strengthening the peacebuilding
mandates of the peacekeeping missions. He also called upon the Council to leverage the
complementary role of the UN Peacebuilding Commission (PBC)in addressing non-traditional
security threats, such as climate change. “As the Chair of the PBC for two terms, Bangladesh made
sincere efforts to unbound the potentials of the Commission” added the Ambassador.
He also stressed the importance of full equal and meaningful participation of women in
building sustainable peace and emphasized on promoting Women Peace and Security agenda in
broader peace and security contexts including in addressing climate change, disaster risk reduction
and in humanitarian action.
The open debate was convened by Switzerland as a signature event of its first ever presidency
to the security council. The Foreign Minister of Switzerland Ignazio Cassis chaired the meeting.