Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury
| Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury | |
|---|---|
| Minister of Foreign Affairs | |
|
In office 2007–2008 |
|
| Preceded by | Iajuddin Ahmed |
| Succeeded by | Dipu Moni |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 25 October 1946 Dacca District,British India |
| Religion | Islam |
Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury is a Bangladeshi career diplomat and former government minister. He is Principal Research Fellow at the Institute of South Asian Studies (ISAS) in the National University of Singapore.
As a senior member of the Bangladesh Foreign Service, he served as Bangladesh's Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York (2001–2007) and Geneva (1996–2001). He was also Bangladesh's ambassador to Qatar (1994–1996) and was accredited to Chile, Peru and the Vatican.
He was also an international civil servant having served as Special Advisor to the Secretary-General of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) in Geneva (2000).
Chowdhury stood First Class First in BA Honours in political science at Dhaka University and obtained an MA and PhD in international relations from the Australian National University, Canberra. Earlier, he secured a High First Division in Intermediate of Arts, and a place in Matriculation Examination. In the Civil Service Competitive Examination in 1968, he stood first in the then East Pakistan and joined the erstwhile Civil Service of Pakistan (CSP) in 1969.
Throughout a career that spanned across a period of nearly four decades, Chowdhury held many senior positions in the government including that of Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York (2001–2007),Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the United Nations in Geneva (1996–2000)and Ambassador of Bangladesh to Qatar (1994–1996). He was a Secretary to the Government of Bangladesh. He also had concurrent accreditation to the Holy See (Vatican),Chile and Peru as Ambassador.
During his long stints in Geneva and New York, he had been the President of the Conference on Disarmament, Chairman of the WTO Council on Trade Policy Review, WTO Committee on Trade and Development, Chairman, United Nations Information Committee, Chairman, Population and Development Commission, Chairman for the Committee for Social Development, Vice-Chairman, Human Rights Commission,and Vice-President of the United Nations General Assembly, and vice-chairman, UNICEF, among other positions.
He had been actively associated with the United Nations reform process as a facilitator appointed by the President of the United Nations General Assembly. He was also responsible for conducting negotiations on the paragraphs on 'Responsibility to Protect' in the United Nations reform document, which he did successfully.
He has participated in numerous seminars and workshops in various universities and think tanks around the world and has contributed articles on international relations and economic development in journals and newspapers.
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