Yunus’s visit to UNGA a ‘tour de force’: Michael Kugelman

In an exclusive email interview with The Daily Star, Michael Kugelman, director of the South Asia Institute at the Wilson Centre, shared his views on the recent visit of Chief Adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus to New York.
During the visit, Yunus attended the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) and held several high-profile meetings.
Kugelman discussed the significance of this trip and its potential impact on Bangladesh’s diplomacy, economy, and humanitarian challenges.
TDS: What’s your assessment about Professor Muhammad Yunus’s visit to the UNGA and his performance?
Michael Kugelman: It was a tour de force. He secured meetings with some of the most powerful people in the world—world leaders, top business executives, major donors. And given his celebrity status, many of these folks likely sought him out, and not the other way around. But most importantly, they pledged support to him and his country. He achieved his core objective of putting his country’s need for economic, development, and humanitarian support on the global agenda—an agenda already crowded with so many issues, including wars and humanitarian crises.
All this said, he didn’t have to try that hard; Yunus is an international celebrity, and he has no trouble drawing crowds and securing support. But even despite that, he seemed to surpass expectations.
TDS: Will his visit bring about any real change in Bangladesh and its relations with foreign countries?
Michael Kugelman: Yunus’s visit to New York was a success from a public diplomacy standpoint. But for it to also be a policy success, his government will need to be in constant follow-up mode, reconnecting with all those leaders and organisations that pledged support to move forward on next steps. As much as the international community may respect Yunus, it’ll need more pushes from his government.
TDS: How do you think his meetings with the heads of the WB, IMF, EU, UN and USAID administrator will help boost Bangladesh’s economy and reforms?
Michael Kugelman: The meetings have injected momentum into efforts to secure international assistance for Bangladesh’s many challenges. In cases where there are formal new agreements for support, as is the case with USAID, it’s just a matter of implementation. But with some of these other entities, there will have to be ample follow-up that will fall to Yunus’s team, and especially his foreign affairs and economic advisers. Yunus’s star power, and the respect he commands on the global stage, will help Bangladesh’s cause. But with so many donors needs and priorities, it won’t take much to get diverted. That’s why the follow-up from Dhaka is so essential.
TDS: Do you think that Bangladesh’s Rohingya policy will change with Muhammad Yunus being the head of the interim government? Why or why not?
Michael Kugelman: I suspect we will see less of a push for repatriation and more of a focus on relocation to third countries. One of Yunus’s goals in New York was to bring attention to the Rohingya crisis, with the hope of convincing more countries to help take them in. It will admittedly be a hard sell. But with more Rohingya entering Bangladesh, thereby placing an added burden on managing the massive number already there, Yunus will have a strong incentive to identify additional host countries to ease Bangladesh’s burden.