Bangladesh

Permanent Representative of Bangladesh to the UN

NAME                                                   Anwarul Karim Chowdhury

NATIONALITY                                   Bangali

NEW YORK ADDRESS
AND TELEPHONE                             Mission of the People's Republic of Bangladesh to the U.N. 821 UN Plaza,
                                                                8th Floor New York, N.Y. 10017-3520, Tel (212) 867-3434

PERMANENT HOME
ADDRESS
AND TELEPHONE

DATES OF SERVICE
AS PERMANENT
REPRESENTATIVE TO U.N             Since 18 September 1996

OTHER POSTINGS                          Deputy Permanent Representafive to the United Nations ftom 1980 to 1986.
 

MAIN INTERESTS
(INTELLECTUAL, CULTURAL,
SOCIAL AND OTHER)
 

CURRICULUM VITAE AND DIPLOMATIC CAREER
 

Ambassador Anwarul Karim Chowdhury took up his responsibilities as the Permanent Representative of Bangladesh to the United Nations in New York on 18 September 1996 and presented credentials to the UN Secretary-General on 19 September 1996. He has the rank of a Permanent Secretary to the Government of Bangladesh.

He served as the Chairman of the Fifth (Administrative & Budgetary)Committee, a Main Committee of the 52nd U.N. General Assembly Session and in that capacity, he steered to successful conclusion the deliberations relating to UN reform proposals, 1998-99 biennium budget and triennial scale of assessments.

Ambassador Chowdhury is currently serving as Vice President of the Economic and
Social Council (ECOSOC) for a second term. In this capacity, he successfully chaired the negotiations resulting in a review of the ECOSOC subsidiary bodies for the first time in UN history. He led the Bangladesh delegation to the substantive sessions of the ECOSOC in 1997 & 1998.

He is also a member of the Advisory Panel of UNESCO on the Culture of Peace.

Ambassador Chowdhury has long and varied experience and expertise in the U.N. affairs in view of his responsibilities at the Bangladesh Ministry of Foreign Affairs and its Permanent Mission to the United Nations as well as his work with the U.N. Secretariat. During his career in the diplomatic service of Bangladesh, he has specialized in development issues and has been closely involved in international economic and social issues representing Bangladesh and the UN in various multilateral forums and meetings. He has represented Bangladesh at fourteen regular sessions of the United Nations General Assembly and attended three others as an international civil servant. He also attended the World Summit for Children and the major UN global conferences on environment in Rio (1992), on population in Cairo (I 994) and on social development in Copenhagen(I 995).

Ambassador Chowdhury was Bangladesh's Deputy Permanent Representative to the United Nations from 1980 to 1986. He served as various elective offices as the Chairman of the UNICEF Executive Board (1985-86); Chairman of the Programme Committee of UNICEF's Executive Board on two occasions, (1983-85); Chairman of the UN Committee on Negotiations with Intergovernmental Agencies in November 1985; as Vice-Chairman of the Committee for Programme and Coordination(CPC) on two occasions in 1985 and 1986; President of the FAO/World Food Programme Pledging Conference (1984); first Chairman of the UN Comniittee for Population Award (1983) and reelected twice to the post in 1984 and 1985; Chairman of the Group of 27, working group of G-77, (1982-1983); Chairman of the Meeting of Experts on ESCAP Least Developed Countries (1990); Chairman of the Intergovernmental Meeting on ESCAP Least Developed Countries; and Chairman of the Drafting Committee of the International Conference on Population and the Urban Future held at Barcelona in May 1986. He represented Bangladesh at the two UN Conferences on LDCs held in Paris in 1981 and 1990.

Prior to his current appointment, Ambassador Chowdhury was Director and Secretary of the Executive Board of the United Nations Children Fund(UNICEF) in New York (1993- 1996) and UNICEF Director for Japan, Australia and New Zealand (1990-1993). In the latter capacity, he pioneered the establishment of Baby-Friendly Hospitals in Japan, certifying the first one in that country in 1992, which was also the first in any industrialized country.

At the Foreign Ministty of Bangladesh, Ambassador Chowdhury served as the Director-General responsible for multilateral economic affairs (1986-1990) and as Director- General for South and South East Asia (1979-1980). His long association with multilateral affairs started with his close involvement in the negotiations from 1972 to 1974 which secured the Security Council's approval of Bangladesh's entry to the United Nations.

Ambassador Chowdhury has also been associated with various nongovernmental and autonomous bodies and research organizations in different capacities both in Bangladesh, New York and in other places of assignment. He was the Vice President of the Society for Intemafional Development(SID), Bangladesh Chapter from 1988-1990, and Vice President for Programmes and Membership, SID, New York Chapter respectively in 1995 and 1996; Member of the Japan Society for International Development (1991-1993); and Member of the Board of Governors, Bangladesh Institute for International and Strategic Studies(1986) and member, Board of Directors of the Population Institute, Washington D.C., from 1984-98. He is a regular contributor in journals on development and human rights issues, with special focus on child rights.

Ambassador Chowdhury is concurrently accredited as Bangladesh Ambassador to Peru, Chile and Nicaragua and High Commissioner of Bangladesh to the Bahamas and Guyana.

Ambassador Chowdhury holds a Masters Degree with honours in contemporary history from the University of Dhaka.

Born on 5 February 1943, he is manied and has three children.