Chief Adviser Dr Muhammad Yunus and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres arrived in Cox's Bazar on Friday afternoon to attend a number of programs, including a visit to Rohingya refugee camps, where they will attend an iftar meal.
Disaster Management and Relief Adviser Faruk E Azam welcomed them upon their arrival at Cox’s Bazar airport at around 12:55pm.
Rabab Fatima, UN under-secretary-general and high representative for the least developed countries, landlocked developing countries and small island developing states; Foreign Affairs Adviser Md Touhid Hossain; SDG Affairs Principal Coordinator Lamiya Morshed; and Chief Adviser's Press Secretary Shafiqul Alam were accompanying them.
The chief adviser will visit the under-construction Cox's Bazar airport and the Khurushkul climate refugee centre before visiting Rohingya camps.
The UN chief will share an iftar with the refugees, to be hosted by Yunus.
The UN chief and Yunus will meet with Rohingya refugees who have been forcibly displaced from their homes in Myanmar.
They will also meet with the host Bangladeshi communities who have been so generous in hosting them.
"Every Ramadan, I spend time with Muslim communities living in difficult circumstances, to observe the fast with them and help shine a spotlight on their plight. This year I’m in Bangladesh to express my solidarity with Rohingya refugees and the Bangladeshi people hosting them," Guterres said about his Ramadan solidarity visit.
Yunus and Guterres are scheduled to return to Dhaka on Friday night.
In the morning, the UN chief had a bilateral meeting with Yunus and discussed the issues of mutual interest, including the Rohingya refugee crisis.
The meeting was held at the Chief Adviser's Office in Tejgaon.
Foreign Affairs Adviser Md Touhid Hossain and Chief Adviser's High Representative Dr Khalilur Rahman also met Guterres at a city hotel, before his meeting with the chief adviser.
On Saturday in Dhaka, the secretary-general will meet with youth and representatives from civil society, said an official at the UN office in Dhaka.
He will also hold a joint press conference with the Foreign Adviser Touhid Hossain on Saturday afternoon.
Guterres is scheduled to leave Bangladesh on Sunday morning.
