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A day after the education minister claimed that UNESCO had not conferred “The Tree of Peace” award to Nobel laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus, the Yunus Centre on Thursday issued a statement to clarify the matter.
In the statement, Yunus Centre said Professor Muhammad Yunus was invited to the Baku Forum XI in Baku, Azerbaijan as a distinguished speaker from March 14–16, 2024 .
The Secretary General of the Nizami Ganjavi International Centre (NGIC) that organises the Baku Forum, Rovshan Muradov sent an email to Yunus Centre informing that in addition to addressing the Conference, Professor Yunus would receive an award from UNESCO on the closing day of the conference, it said.
During the closing dinner of Baku Forum, Prof Yunus was specifically reminded to attend the event to receive Tree of Peace award onstage on 16 March, according to the statement.
Yunus Centre mentioned the award by UNESCO in its press release, the statement said.
The Tree of Peace presented to Professor Yunus is the same sculpture by the same artist as was presented in 2014 to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, it added.
On a previous visit to UNESCO headquarters on June 2023 Prof Yunus signed a partnership agreement between UNESCO and Yunus Sports Hub, an international organisation founded by Professor Muhammad Yunus, to drive sustainable development through sport in the context of UNESCO’s Fit for Life flagship, said the statement.
Earlier on Wednesday, Education Minister Mohibul Hasan Chowdhury, who is also the chairman of the Bangladesh UNESCO Commission, said the UNESCO had not conferred 'The Tree of Peace' award to Dr Yunus.
The award was rather conferred on him by an Israeli sculptor, upon invitation from the Ganjavi Foundation in Azerbaijan. So, Prof Yunus’ claim that he had received the award from UNESCO was untrue, he added on that day.