Dhaka, 30 September 2020:

Foreign Minister stressed a change of mindset to achieve lasting peace and stability in the world. He mentioned it in his recorded statement delivered at the Annual High-Level Meeting of the United Nations Alliance of Civilization (UNAoC) Group of Friends on 29 September 2020.

 He said that the world must inculcate a mindset of tolerance, a mindset of respect and love for others irrespective of religion, ethnicity, colour and race to achieve peace and harmony. The Alliance of Civilization can be an effective ‘soft power’ to bring about changes in the mindset of people which is essential for a sustainable world of peace and stability, he continued.

In his statement, Dr. Momen, among others, highlighted the multifaced challenges that the pandemic Covid-19 has generated in our societies. He underscored the need to build cohesive and inclusive societies to fight the menace of mistrusts, intolerance, hate speech and xenophobia that the pandemic has given rise to. He maintained that Bangladesh greatly values the principles of tolerance, secularism, ethnic diversity and communal harmony, which are embedded in our Constitution. Our peace-centric, tolerant state policy has indeed been shaped by the vision of the of our Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman who boldly stated  in his maiden speech in the UN on 25th September 1974, "Peace is an imperative for the survival of mankind.” This vision of peace has also guided us to embrace a ‘Culture of Peace’ andencouraged us to sponsor a resolution on this theme in the UN for the last 21 years.

The Foreign Minister emphasized inclusion, forging partnership, andrespecting diversity as critical in our efforts to build back better from the devastating fallout of the Covid-19. He further underlined the need to utilize lessons-learnt from past cries and reinforce social cohesion and peaceful coexistence to contribute to preventing social tensions between individuals and communities in this challenging time.