Global Leaders Announce Strong Support for the New Bangladeshi Government Led by Professor Yunus

In the wake of the unprecedented student-led revolution in Bangladesh that culminated in the fall of the autocratic regime led by Sheikh Hasina and the installation of an interim government led by Professor Muhammad Yunus, people throughout the world have been expressing their excitement and willingness to support the new regime and the Bangladeshi people. Students around the world have drawn inspiration from the courage displayed by their peers in Bangladesh, and mourned those who were lost in the struggle for freedom. Now, 198 global leaders including 92 Nobel laureates and Barack Obama, the 44th president of the United States, have added their own message of congratulations and support. The statement below was released on September 4, 2024 online, in a full-page ad in the Washington Post, and through a press release. Citizens who want to signal their own solidarity with the interim government in Bangladesh and the Bangladeshi people can add their names to those of the global leaders by clicking here

A Message to the People of Bangladesh and Citizens of Goodwill Throughout the World

We the undersigned are excited to publicly share our congratulations and heartfelt good wishes to Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus, the new interim Prime Minister of Bangladesh. Professor Yunus, like others in Bangladesh, has suffered under the yoke of autocracy. Today, thanks to the power of a democratic and student-led protest, that autocracy has been replaced by hope. As Professor Yunus has said, Bangladesh is now enjoying its second liberation, and it has the chance to fulfill its great potential as a nation.  We have been proud to have supported Professor Yunus over the years. It is the beginning of an exciting new dawn for Bangladesh, and we wish him and the people of Bangladesh peace and success in the months and years ahead.   We are excited to see Professor Yunus finally free to work for the uplift of the entire country, especially the most marginalized, a calling he has pursued with great vigor and success across six decades. Just as the nation’s young people have inspired him, we know that he will inspire them to play a leadership role in bringing a bright new future to Bangladesh. We are also confident that he will inspire millions of young people around the world, including those in the Bangladeshi diaspora, to improve society for the better. We applaud the interim government’s commitment to bring free and fair elections back to Bangladesh and its commitment to allowing democracy to flourish.   We stand ready to help in any way we can to support the efforts of Bangladesh and the interim government to lead the world in creating a new and better civilization, as Professor Yunus has repeatedly called for.

Signed,

Nobel Laureates

Peace 

Barack H. Obama, Peace, 2009

H.E. José Ramos Horta, Peace, 1996

Mairead Corrigan-Maguire, Peace, 1976

Shirin Ebadi, Peace, 2003

Mohamed ElBaradei, Peace, 2005

Leymah Roberta Gbowee, Peace, 2011

Albert Arnold Gore Jr., Peace, 2007

Tawakkol Karman, Peace, 2011

Nadia Murad, Peace, 2018

Denis Mukwege, Peace, 2018

Dmitry Muratov, Peace, 2021

Oscar Arias Sanchez, Peace, 1987

Juan Manuel Santos, Peace, 2016

Jody Williams, Peace, 1997

Chemistry      

Thomas R. Cech, Chemistry, 1989

Emmanuelle Charpentier, Chemistry, 2020

Aaron Ciechanover, Chemistry, 2004

Johann Deisenhofer, Chemistry, 1988

Gerhard Ertl, Chemistry, 2007

Joachim Frank, Chemistry, 2017

Richard Henderson, Chemistry, 2017

Roald Hoffmann, Chemistry, 1981

Robert Huber, Chemistry, 1988

Martin Karplus, Chemistry, 2013

Brian K. Kobilka, Chemistry, 2012

Roger D. Kornberg, Chemistry, 2006

Yuan T. Lee, Chemistry, 1986

Robert J. Lefkowitz, Chemistry, 2012

Michael Levitt, Chemistry, 2013

Hartmut Michel, Chemistry, 1988

Paul L. Modrich, Chemistry, 2015

William E. Moerner, Chemistry, 2014

John C. Polanyi, Chemistry, 1986

Jean-Pierre Sauvage, Chemistry, 2016

Richard R. Schrock, Chemistry, 2005

Sir John E. Walker, Chemistry, 1997

Arieh Warshel, Chemistry, 2013

Sir M. Stanley Whittingham, Chemistry, 2019

Sir Gregory P. Winter, Chemistry, 2018

Economics     

Finn E. Kydland, Economics, 2004

Eric S. Maskin, Economics, 2007

Christopher A. Pissarides, Economics, 2010

Joseph E. Stiglitz, Economics, 2001

Literature                    

J. M. Coetzee, Literature, 2003

Elfriede Jelinek, Literature, 2004

Herta Muller, Literature, 2009

Wole Soyinka, Literature, 1986

Medicine                    

Werner Arber, Medicine, 1978

David Baltimore, Medicine, 1975

Francoise Barre-Sinoussi, Medicine, 2008

Mario R. Capecchi, Medicine, 2007

H. Robert Horvitz, Medicine, 2002

Sir Michael Houghton, Medicine, 2020

Tim Hunt, Medicine, 2001

Louis J. Ignarro, Medicine, 1998

William G. Kaelin Jr., Medicine, 2019

Barry J. Marshall, Medicine, 2005

Craig C. Mello, Medicine, 2006

Edvard Moser, Medicine, 2014

May-Britt Moser, Medicine, 2014

Charles M. Rice, Medicine, 2020

Sir Richard J. Roberts, Medicine, 1993

Michael Rosbash, Medicine, 2017

Randy W. Schekman, Medicine, 2013

Gregg L. Semenza, Medicine, 2019

Thomas C. Sudhof, Medicine, 2013

Jack W. Szostak, Medicine, 2009

Harold E. Varmus, Medicine, 1989

Eric F. Wieschaus, Medicine, 1995

Torsten N. Wiesel, Medicine, 1981

Physics                      

Hiroshi Amano, Physics, 2014

Barry Clark Barish, Physics, 2017

Steven Chu, Physics, 1997

Andre Geim, Physics, 2010

Sheldon Glashow, Physics, 1979

David J. Gross, Physics, 2004

Takaaki Kajita, Physics, 2015

Wolfgang Ketterle, Physics, 2001

Ferenc Krausz, Physics, 2023

Anthony J. Leggett, Physics, 2003

John C. Mather, Physics, 2006

Michel Mayor, Physics, 2019

Konstantin Novoselov, Physics, 2010

Roger Penrose, Physics, 2020

William D. Phillips, Physics, 1997

H. David Politzer, Physics, 2004

Donna Strickland, Physics, 2018

Kip Stephen Thorne, Physics, 2017

Carl E. Wieman, Physics, 2001

Robert Woodrow Wilson, Physics, 1978

David J. Wineland, Physics, 2012

Elected Officials & Business and Civil Society Leaders

Rza Aliyev, Senior Advisor to the Nizami Ganjavi International Center       

Joyce Banda, President of Malawi 2012-2014                     

Fábio Colletti Barbosa, UN Foundation Board Member                    

Marc Benioff, Chairman and Co-Chief Executive Officer, Salesforce         

Kjell Magne Bondevik, Prime Minister of Norway 1997-2000, 2001-2005

Sir Richard Branson, Founder, Virgin Group

Gro Brundtland, Former Prime Minister of Norway, Former Director-General WHO

Sharan Burrow, Former General Secretary, International Trade Union Confederation

Kathy Calvin, UN Foundation Board Member

Hikmet Cetin, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkey 1991-1994, Speaker of the Grand National  Assembly 1997-1999   

Julio Cobos, Vice President of Argentina 2007-2011

Emil Constantinescu, President of Romania 1996-2000

Elizabeth M. Cousens, President & CEO, UN Foundation

Mirko Cvetkovic, Prime Minister of Serbia 2008-2012

Sam Daley-Harris, Founder, RESULTS and Civic Courage

Lt. Gen. (Rtd.) Roméo Dallaire, Founder, Dallaire Institute for Children, Peace and Security

Abigail E. Disney, Filmmaker

Susan Elliott, President & CEO National Committee on American Foreign Policy  

Maria Fernanda Espinosa, President of the 73rd Session of the UN General Assembly; Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ecuador 2017-2018; Minister of Defense 2012-2014

Emmanuel Faber, Chair, International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB)

Benita Ferrero-Waldner, Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs of Austria 2000-2004; European Commissioner for External Relations and European Neighborhood Policy 2004-2009; European  Commissioner for Trade and European Neighborhood Policy 2009-2010

Christiana Figueres, Founding Partner, Global Optimism

Vicente Fox, Former President of Mexico

Ron Garan, Former NASA Astronaut

Kul Gautam, Former Deputy Executive Director of UNICEF and Assistant Secretary General of the UN

Ryan Gellert, CEO, Patagonia

Pamela Gillies, Former Vice Chancellor and Professor Emerita, Glasgow Caledonian University

Peter C. Goldmark Jr., Former CEO Rockefeller Foundation and International Herald Tribune

Justice Richard Goldstone, South African Former Judge and Former Chief Prosecutor of the UN International Criminal Tribunals for the Former Yugoslavia and Rwanda

Dr. Jane Goodall, DBE, Founder, the Jane Goodall Institute & UN Messenger of Peace

Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic, President of Croatia 2015-2020

Ameenah Gurib-Fakim, President of Mauritius 2015-2018  

John Hewko, CEO, Rotary International

Andre Hoffmann, Vice Chair, Roche Holding AG                

Chad Holliday, Chair, Mission Possible Partnership             

Arianna Huffington, Founder and CEO, Thrive Global

Mo Ibrahim, Entrepreneur and Philanthropist

Ilaha Ibrahimli, Deputy Secretary General Nizami Ganjavi International Center

Ekmeleddin Ihsanoghlu, Secretary-General OIC 2004-2014

Mladen Ivanic, President of Bosnia and Herzegovina 2014-2018

Ivo Josipovic, President of Croatia 2010-2015

Ilham Kadri, CEO, Syensqo

Mats Karlsson, Former Vice President of the World Bank   

Baroness Helena Kennedy, KC, Member of the House of Lords UK

Ted Kennedy Jr.

Kerry Kennedy, President, Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights

Joseph D. Kenner

Vinod Khosla, Venture Capitalist

Ban Ki-moon, 8th Secretary General of the United Nations

Csaba Korosi, 77th President of the UN General Assembly

Jadranka Kosor, Prime Minister of Croatia 2009-2011         

Leonid Kuchma, President of Ukraine 1994-2005    

Aleksandr Kwasniewski, President of Poland 1995-2005     

Zlatko Lagumdižja, Prime Minister of Bosnia and Herzegovina 2001-2002, Deputy Prime Minister 1993-1996, 2012-2015

Guilherme Leal, Co-Founder, Natura Cosmeticos, B Team Leader

Dr. Frannie Léautier, Senior Partner and CEO, Southbridge Group

Annie Lennox, Singer, Songwriter, and Activist

Yves Leterme, Prime Minister of Belgium 2008, 2009-2011

Isabelle de Leyritz, Former CEO, Engie; Co-founder and CEO, Blunomy

Andrew Liveris, Chairman Emeritus and Former CEO, Dow Chemical

Eugene A. Ludwig, Founder and Former CEO and Chairman, Promontory Financial Group; Former U.S. Comptroller of the Currency 

Igor Luksic, Prime Minister of Montenegro 2010-2012

Susana Malcorra, Former Foreign Minister of Argentina

Moussa Mara, Prime Minister of Mali 2014-2015     

Paul Maritz, Former CEO of VMWare

Rexhep Meidani, President of Albania 1997-2002

Aichatao Mindadaoudou, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Niger 1999-2010; UN Special Representative for Cote d’Ivoire

Hiro Mizuno, UN Special Envoy on Innovative Finance and Sustainable Investments

Juan Carlos Mora, CEO, Bancolombia

Michael Moskow, Former President and CEO, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago            

Amre Moussa, Secretary-General, Arab League 2001-2011; Minister of Foreign Affairs of Egypt  1991-2001

Rovshan Muradov, Secretary General Nizami Ganjavi International Center

Joseph Muscat, Prime Minister of Malta 2013-2020

Jean Oelwang, Founding CEO and President, Virgin United

Djoomart Otorbayev, Prime Minister of Kyrgyzstan 2014-2015

Dr. Michael Otto, Chairman of the Supervisory Board, Otto Group

Milica Pejanovic-Durisic, Minister of Defense of Montenegro 2012-2016

Jan Piercy, Former US Executive Director, The World Bank

Rosen Plevneliev, President of Bulgaria 2012-2017

Paul Polman, Business Leader

Robert Post, Professor of Law, Yale Law School

Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca, President of Malta 2014-2019 

Donald Riegle, Former U.S. Senator from the State of Michigan; Former Chairman, Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Development

Sir Malcom Rifkind, KC, Former UK Defence Secretary and Foreign Secretary

Rt Hon Lord Robertson of Port Ellen, Former Secretary General, NATO

Mary Robinson, Former President of Ireland

Ellen Seidman, Senior Fellow, Urban Institute

Hedva Ser, Goodwill Ambassador of UNESCO

Ismail Serageldin, Co-Chair Nizami Ganjavi International Center, Vice President of the World Bank 1992-2000

Rosalia Arteago Serrano, President of Ecuador 1997

Wayne Silby, Founder, Calvert Investments

Yeardley Smith, Actress

Petar Stoyanov, President of Bulgaria 1997-2002

Laimdota Straujuma, Prime Minister of Latvia 2014-2016

Dr. David Suzuki, Prof. Emeritus, University of British Columbia

Boris Tadic, President of Serbia 2004-2012

Jewel Howard Taylor, Vice President of Liberia 2018-2024

Ted Turner, Founder and Chair of the UN Foundation Board of Directors; Chairman, Turner Enterprises; Founder, CNN

Cassam Uteem, President of Mauritius 1992-1997  

Melanne S. Verveer, Executive Director of the Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security at Georgetown University

HE Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga, Co-chair Nizami Ganjavi International Center, President of Latvia 1999-2007

Filip Vujanović, President of Montenegro 2003-2018

Jimmy Wales, Co-Founder and Internet Entrepreneur, Wikipedia

Timothy E. Wirth, Former U.S. Senator, Colorado

Antonio Zanardi Landi, Former Diplomatic Adviser to the Italian President; Ambassador of the Military Order of Malta to Vatican

Valdis Zatlers, President of Latvia 2007-2011

Note: A version of this message published in the Washington Post inaccurately referred to signer Joseph D. Kenner as being currently associated with Greyston. We regret the error, which was due entirely to a mistake made by the Protect Yunus Campaign.

Supportive Citizens

Philippe Axus, Saint-Verain, France

Golam Mortaza, Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Sabrina Quaraishi, Washington DC, USA

Michael Wirtz, Cologne, Germany

Jason Bajaj, Hong Kong

Nasser Alkahtani, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Mohammad Ullah, Chittagong, Bangladesh

Muhammad Abdullah Al Farabi, Dhaka, Bangladesh

Abdul Kadir, Saarbrücken, Germany

Jayadur Rahman, Sylhet, Bangladesh

Mohammad Zahinul Islam, Dhaka, Bangladesh

MD Siam, Dhaka, Bangladesh

Ketan Raikar, Mumbai, India

MD YUSUF, Buffalo, NY, USA

Shah Kawthar Mustafa Abululayee, Dhaka, Bangladesh

Qudsia Huda, Geneva, Switzerland

Mohammad Nazmul Hassan Bhuiyan, Dhaka, Bangladesh

Naushad Hossain, Fullerton, USA

Mohammad Imtiazur Rahman, Dhaka, Bangladesh

Syed Omar Faruk Towaha, Upmintser, United Kingdom

Faysal Ahmed, Dhaka, Bangladesh

Samiur Rahman, Dhaka, Bangladesh