【Photo Diary】(6) 10-day tour of Switzerland, Sweden, the Philippines, Thailand and Bangladesh
Published on August 19, 2024
I would like to share with you some of the photographs taken during my 10-day European and Asian tour that took me to Switzerland, Sweden, the Philippines, Thailand and Bangladesh from May 27 to June 5, 2024, in my capacity as chairman of The Nippon Foundation and WHO Goodwill Ambassador for Leprosy Elimination.
[June 3, Dhaka, Bangladesh]
He reiterated his ministry’s commitment to fulfilling Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s pledge to achieve zero leprosy by 2030, working tirelessly with government, non-government and international partners. To this end, various efforts were under way, including early case detection, ensuring proper treatment, rehabilitation of patients, capacity building of health workers, and raising social awareness, he said.
I expressed my gratitude to her for her presence at Bangladesh’s second National Leprosy Conference in November last year in which she expressed her strong commitment to achieving the country’s ambitious goal of zero leprosy by 2030.
Referring to my meeting in Geneva a week earlier at the World Health Assembly with her daughter, Ms. Saima Wazed, who became WHO’s Regional Director for Southeast Asia in February 2024, I told the prime minister that we had gained a strong partner in our fight against leprosy in the region.
Concerning the issue of forcibly displaced persons from Myanmar’s Rakhine State, who have been stranded in Bangladesh for over six years, the prime minister asked for The Nippon Foundation’s cooperation in assisting with their return to Myanmar when circumstances allow, while also seeking our support in helping relocate more refugees to the island of Bhasan Char in the Bay of Bengal from Cox’s Bazar in the interim.
briefed her on our plan to provide $2 million to help the Bangladesh government transfer a further 40,000 of the displaced Muslim refugees to Bhasan Char, and received her endorsement.
I told the prime minister that during my visit to Bhasan Char in April, I was impressed by the support the Bangladesh government has given, constructing a 14-kilometer-long embankment to protect the island from flooding as well as providing beautifully-built houses, schools, hospitals and mosques, powered by solar energy.
The Bhasan Char camp is notable for providing vocational training and equipping refugees with skills, creating numerous possibilities and opportunities for them when they go back to Myanmar in the future, I added.
(End)