FM calls for action to prevent displacement due to war, climate change 

Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen has said actions should be taken so that people around the world are not uprooted either due to war or climate change. 

He was speaking at the inaugural ceremony of a joint art exhibition on humanitarian crises titled "Humanitarian Principles. Here and Now" hosted by The Embassy of Switzerland in Bangladesh, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the Liberation War Museum in collaboration with the Photo Elysée Museum of Lausanne, Switzerland. 

"Humanitarian Principles. Here and Now" contains photographs and films through which artists share their vision of humanity, impartiality, neutrality and independence and examine the impact of humanitarian principles from a fresh, local and contemporary perspective, reads a press release. 

"Humanitarian principles are close to the heart of the Swiss people, and in the early 1970s these quintessential values laid the foundation on which our partnership with Bangladesh has developed," said Ambassador of Switzerland to Bangladesh Nathalie Chuard. 

The exhibition is special as both countries jointly reflect on these principles at a time when Switzerland and Bangladesh are celebrating 50 years of bilateral relations, she added. 

Head of the ICRC delegation in Bangladesh Katja Lorenz said the ICRC was present in Bangladesh during the 1971 War. 

Based on the humanitarian principles, ICRC provided protection and assistance to hundreds of thousands of affected people, she said. 

"Today, we continue helping people affected by violence. Among other activities, we visit detainees, we support physical rehabilitation services, we promote International Humanitarian Law (IHL). Together with the Bangladesh Red Crescent Society (BDRCS), we strive to re-establish family links where contacts between relatives have been interrupted for different reasons and to reunite missing people with their families," added Katja. 

The photos in exhibition also provide a retrospective and information about the ICRC's role and activities in Bangladesh during the 1971 War and the last 50 years since, along with Switzerland's humanitarian engagement in Bangladesh over the last five decades. 

Furthermore, 10 original short films from the lenses of 10 Swiss photographers reflecting where they see humanitarian principles at play in their everyday lives are also shown, alongside six award-winning photographs.

The exhibition is taking place at Liberation War Museum's top floor and is open for the public from 25 January to 24 February from 10 am to 5 pm except for Sundays.