Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus has cautioned that reductions in UN budgets and shrinking official development assistance risk worsening Bangladesh’s vulnerabilities as the country confronts repeated climate shocks and the responsibility of hosting 1.3 million Rohingya refugees.

Speaking at a UN high-level event on “Social Business, Youth and Technology” at the UN Headquarters in New York on Monday, Yunus said many nations, including Bangladesh, are preparing to graduate from the least-developed country bracket while grappling with severe challenges.

“For Bangladesh, these challenges include managing climate-induced disasters, navigating global economic turbulence, and supporting 1.3 million forcibly displaced Rohingyas. In such a context, reducing UN budgets or shrinking official development assistance would be counterproductive,” Yunus stressed.

His remarks come a week ahead of the first-ever UN High-Level Conference on the Situation of Rohingya Muslims and Other Minorities in Myanmar, scheduled for September 30.

Calling for renewed multilateral diplomacy, Yunus said the world must “redouble efforts to expand international support, provide technical assistance and ensure a just transition for nations facing heightened vulnerability.” He warned that current global crises — climate change, inequality, conflict, food insecurity and displacement — are interconnected and cannot be solved with old approaches.

“The civilisation we live in today is on a self-destructive path of endless extraction, consumption and accumulation. To change course, we must build a new civilisation — one motivated not by greed but by a shared commitment to solve human and planetary challenges,” Yunus said, urging young people to take leadership through initiatives such as 3-Zero Clubs promoting sustainable living and social entrepreneurship.

On the sidelines of the UN event, Yunus met Sergio Gor, the US Special Envoy for South and Central Asia, and the US ambassador-designate to India. He reaffirmed his government’s commitment to holding a free, fair and peaceful general election in early February. Both sides discussed bilateral and regional issues, including trade, SAARC’s revival, the Rohingya crisis, and the proliferation of disinformation targeting Dhaka.

Yunus also sought continued US support for Rohingya refugees in Cox’s Bazar. The US delegation assured him that their life-saving assistance for the displaced population would continue.

Additionally, Yunus met Belgium’s Queen Mathilde, former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, and IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva. He also received the family members of slain Bangladeshi-origin NYPD officer Didarul Islam, who was fatally shot in July while attempting to protect others from a gunman on Park Avenue in Manhattan.

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