CA Yunus returns home after decrying global military spending at UN Forum
A Biman Bangladesh Airlines flight carrying the chief adviser landed at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport at 8:20am, marking the end of his trip to attend the annual World Food Forum hosted by FAO
Chief Adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus returned to Dhaka this morning (15 October), concluding a two-day official visit to Rome where he delivered a powerful call to global leaders to end hunger and wars, contrasting the massive global military budget with the persistent food crisis.
A Biman Bangladesh Airlines flight carrying the chief adviser landed at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport at 8:20am, marking the end of his trip to attend the annual World Food Forum (WFF), hosted by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations.
During his keynote address at the WFF on 13 October, Muhammad Yunus pointedly criticised the world's spending priorities. "While we couldn't raise a few billion dollars to end hunger, the world spent $2.7 trillion dollars on weapons. Is this how we define progress?" he questioned.
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The chief adviser asserted that the hunger afflicting 673 million people in 2024 is not a result of food scarcity but a "failure of the economic system" and a "moral failure." He argued that the economic framework, which is based on profit-maximising business, must be fundamentally rethought.
He proposed shifting towards Social Business — a model focused on solving societal problems without personal profit — to achieve a 'Three-Zero World': Zero Wealth Concentration, Zero Unemployment, and Zero Net Carbon Emissions.
He, at the World Food Forum (WFF) in Rome, outlined six key measures for global transformation, including: stopping wars to break the hunger-conflict cycle; fulfilling SDG finance commitments; creating regional food banks to manage shocks; ending export bans; ensuring technology access for the Global South; and empowering youth as job creators through dedicated social business funds and agri-innovation hubs.
Muhammad Yunus was received warmly upon his arrival at the FAO headquarters by Director-General Qu Dongyu. The chief adviser emphasised Bangladesh's pride in supporting global cooperation as a founding member of the Global Alliance Against Hunger and Poverty.
