New York, July 14, 2022:  The State Minister for Foreign Affairs of Bangladesh, Md. Shariar Alam MP calls for strengthening global  solidarity and adopting a well-coordinated response to address and overcome the ongoing challenges of the ongoing  multiple and interlinked challenegs. “As a member of the Champions of the Global Crisis Response Group, my Prime  Minister Sheikh Hasina is working with other global leaders to chart a global response commensurate with the scale  and gravity of the crises,” he added. 

He was addressing a Ministerial roundtable titled “Accelerating achievement of the SDGs by 2030:  addressing on-going crises and overcoming challenges” at the High-Level Political Forum (HLPF) 2022 at the UN  Headquarters in New York today. The Permanent Representative of Bangladesh to the UN Ambassador Rabab Fatima  and high-level official were present at the event. 

Highlighting the impacts of multiple and overlapping crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic, climate change,  and the war in Ukraine, along with other protracted conflicts, the State Minister said, “In Bangladesh, we have been  able to show strong resilience to tackle the impacts of these crises. We rolled out 22 billion dollars of stimulus to keep  our economy afloat. The social safety net was extensively expanded. Besides, we also spent billions of dollars on  vaccines”.  The State Minister said Bangladesh’s "whole-of-society" approach, national data repository system, SDG  tracker, and localization efforts have paved the way to accelerate the SDGs implementation. 

Putting spotlight on Bangladesh's innovative, inclusive, and people-centered adaptation strategies, the State  Minister stressed on the high importance of global solidarity and partnership to tackle the adverse impacts of Climate  Change. In this connection, he mentioned that Bangladesh has emerged as a role model for disaster risk response and  crisis management.  The State Minister urged the leading UN agencies, development partners, as well as multilateral donors, and  the private sector to come forward to support national efforts, especially of the most vulnerable countries, by providing  additional financial and technological support to put the countries back on a sustainable, resilient, and inclusive  recovery track. 

Earlier today, he held bilateral meetings with Khalid Najim, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Planning  of Iraq; Ms. Maria Ubach i Font, Foreign Minister of Andorra; Dr. Vince Henderson, Minister of Planning, Economic  Development, Climate resilience, Sustainable Development and Renewable Energy of Dominica; Mondli Gungubele,  Minister for Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation of South Africa; Ms. Karoline EDTSTADLER, Federal Minister for  the EU and Constitution at the Federal Chancellery of Austria; Viliami Va'inga Tone, Ambassador and Permanent  Representative of Tonga to the UN; and, Samuelu Laloniu, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Tuvalu to  the UN.  He discussed issues of mutual interests in those meetings.  Tomorrow, he expects to meet with the Vice Minister for Multilateral Affairs of Venezuela and the Minister of  National Economy of Kazakhstan. The State Minister is leading a high-level Bangladesh Delegation to the High-Level Political Forum (HLPF)  2022, which is being held at the UN Headquarters in New York.