The 75th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) session began on September 15 and this year, due to COVID-19 pandemic globally, it is unlike any other session in the organisation's history.

The centrepiece of any new General Assembly session is the General Debate which began on September 22, a week after the official opening.

In his centerpiece address to the historic and unprecedented 75th session of the UNGA, it Secretary-General António Guterres appealed for global solidarity to overcome the COVID-19, and again call for a global ceasefire during the pandemic, by the end of the year.

Addressing the largely empty General Assembly Hall in New York on September 22, Guterres characterized the pandemic from the podium as "not only a wake-up call" but "a dress rehearsal" for challenges to come.

"In an interconnected world, it is high time to recognize a simple truth: solidarity is self-interest. If we fail to grasp that fact, everyone loses", he said, delivering his annual report on the work of the Organization.

He urged the UN's 193 Member States to move forward in humility and unity in the face of the disease.

"And we must be guided by science and tethered to reality", he added. "Populism and nationalism have failed. Those approaches to contain the virus have often made things manifestly worse."

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, like other global leaders, is joining the 75th UN General Assembly (UNGA) virtually due to Covid-19 pandemic.

She will virtually deliver her key speech at the 75th UNGA on September 26 highlighting global issues including Rohingya crisis and vaccine with a call to ensure vaccine for all at an affordable cost.

The pre-recorded speech will be delivered at 8pm (Bangladesh time), said Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen. Like previous years, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will deliver her speech in Bangla.

The Prime Minister will highlight vaccine issue so that everyone gets access to vaccine at an affordable price.

She will also highlight steps taken by the government in addressing people's sufferings and protecting them from Covid-19 and the importance of working together to ensure availability of a vaccine for all and end people's sufferings.

She will also talk about climate change, migration, women empowerment and child rights, exchange of technology and gender balance.

The Prime Minister will emphasise that all must work together to address the global challenges.

Rohingya Crisis

Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen said Bangladesh will take up the Rohingya issue in the UNGA like previous years, especially ongoing legal procedures at the International Criminal Court (ICC) and International Court of Justice (ICJ).

Bangladesh will raise the Rohingya issue for the fourth time and reiterate the five-point proposals placed by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina earlier seeking solution to the crisis.

Dr Momen said he would attend a number of events virtually apart from representing the Prime Minister in some programmes.

Bangladesh has sought immediate steps on Myanmar by the UN Security Council asking Myanmar to refrain from escalating the situation and targeting the Rohingya minorities in the pretext of security operation.

Bangladesh also urged the UNSC to remind Myanmar of their responsibility to protect its civilian populations during any military or security operations.

Bangladesh Permanent Mission to the UN in New York shared the "aide memoire" with the UNSC President on recent developments near the international border between Bangladesh and Myanmar on September 15.

Bangladesh is now hosting over 1.1 million Rohingyas in Cox's Bazar district and failure to ensure the protection of civilians and their properties during the security operations in Myanmar's Rakhine State may lead to further influx of Myanmar citizens and residents of various ethnic background to Bangladesh.

PM's High-Level Events

Prime Minister Hasina is scheduled to deliver pre-recorded speeches in a number of programmes.

The first one, she delivered on September 22 at the high-level event to mark the 75th Anniversary of the United Nations.

She called for not allowing geopolitical rivalries to weaken the United Nations as the Covid-19 pandemic has shown that both developed and developing nations need the UN more than ever.

"We must not allow our geopolitical rivalries to weaken the UN. We owe it to the founding fathers and future generations to make the UN a truly effective global body for humankind as a whole," said the Prime Minister.

She said the challenges of the present time, including the current pandemic, go beyond borders and the COVID-19 has made the achievement of the 2030 Agenda more challenging. "It has exposed the inadequacies of the current international order."

Dr Momen said this year the UNGA with the theme "The future we want, the United Nations we need: reaffirming our collective commitment to multilateralism and confronting COVID-19 through effective multilateral action" is a very important one.

Issues related to international community's support, especially development partners, for keeping Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) implementation unhurt and giving equal attention to overcoming COVID-19 challenges and SDGs will be discussed this year, he said.

In light of World Confidence on Women held in Beijing in 1995, issues like women empowerment, removing gender discrimination and preventing women repression will widely be discussed this year.

The Prime Minister will attend high-level dialogue on "Digital Cooperation: Action Today for Future Generations" on September 23. On September 24, she will deliver speech at the high level roundtable on Climate Action and will highlight climate issues as the chair of Climate Vulnerable Forum (CVF).

On September 29, the Prime Minister will virtually attend the high-level event on Financing for Development (FFD) in the era of Covid-19 and beyond.

On September 30, she will deliver speech at a summit on biodiversity.

The Prime Minister will also deliver speech at high-level meeting to mark the 25th anniversary of the Fourth World Conference on Women and the adoption of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for action (Beijing +25) on October 1.

The theme of the event is 'Accelerating the realization of gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls'.

Dr Momen and State Minister for Foreign Affairs M Shahriar Alam will attend a number of events including high-level plenary meeting to commemorate and promote the International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons.

The General Debate is a globally unique occasion at which presidents and heads of state (or sometimes their deputies or foreign ministers) take to the dais, and address a world audience on an issue of their choosing.

This year, because of the pandemic, the UN said, world leaders are staying away and have been invited to send in pre-recorded videos of their speeches which will be broadcast "as live".

Speeches are expected to be introduced by a New York-based representative of each state, who will be physically present.