A Correspondent:
New York: Chief Adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus held a series of high-level meetings with promi-nent global leaders on the sidelines of the 80th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) at the UN Headquarters here on Tuesday (local time).
Among those he met were the Prime Minister of Australia, Her Majesty Queen Máxima of the Nether-lands, the Director-General of the World Health Organization, the former President of Chile, and the current Foreign Minister of Uruguay.
Prof Yunus briefly exchanged greetings with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese following their attendance at the UNGA’s inaugural session.
Their short conversation featured key topics including reforms undertaken by the Interim Government, the upcoming general election in Bangladesh scheduled for February, and the growing Bangladeshi dias-pora in Australia.
Prof Yunus reaffirmed his government’s commitment to conducting one of the most transparent and credible elections in the country’s history, set for early February.
He expressed hope that international observers would be present to ensure the integrity of the electoral process.
Prime Minister Albanese spoke warmly of the Bangladeshi community’s growing contributions in Aus-tralia, particularly in his own constituency. He recalled attending a commemoration of Language Mar-tyrs’ Day on February 21 several years ago.
Later, Prof Yunus met Her Majesty Queen Máxima of the Netherlands, who also serves as the UN Secre-tary-General’s Special Advocate for Inclusive Finance for Development. The discussion focused on ex-panding access to health insurance globally, particularly in the Global South.
They explored innovations in the financial sector—including life and health insurance, long-term sav-ings, and pension schemes—and emphasized the importance of financial inclusion.
Prof Yunus highlighted the urgent need for credit access tailored to maternal healthcare, especially dur-ing pregnancy.
He proposed the use of digital health check-ups to connect rural women with top medical professionals, which could save countless lives.
During the meeting, Prof Yunus also called for a restructuring of the global pharmaceutical industry, seeking for more drug manufacturers to operate as social business enterprises.
“Vaccines produced by social business drug manufacturers will remain affordable,” said Prof Yunus.
The Chief Adviser invited Queen Máxima to visit Bangladesh at a mutually convenient time. Her Royal Highness Catharina-Amalia, Princess of Orange, also joined the meeting.
Prof Yunus also met Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organi-zation. Their discussion covered a range of shared priorities and recent global health developments.
Later in the day, the Chief Adviser participated in two key events: one on Fashion for Development and another focusing on public and private sector collaboration in social innovation.
