Dr. Khalilur Rahman has been appointed as the High Representative for the Rohingya issue and other priority matters under the Chief Adviser to Bangladesh's Interim Government, Dr. Muhammad Yunus.

The Cabinet Division issued a notification regarding his appointment on Tuesday (November 19).

According to the notification, Dr. Khalilur Rahman has been appointed as the High Representative for the Rohingya issue and other priority matters under the Chief Adviser's office. In this role, Dr. Rahman will receive the status, salary, allowances, and benefits of an Adviser.

Dr. Rahman joined the Bangladesh Civil Service (Foreign Affairs) in 1979. He secured first position in the 1977 Bangladesh Civil Service exam and also earned first class first in the MA Economics exam from Dhaka University the same year. From 1978 to 1979, he worked as an executive at American Express International Bank.

Dr. Rahman pursued further studies at Tufts and Harvard Universities in the USA between 1980 and 1983, earning a Master's in Law and Diplomacy and a Ph.D. in Economics.

From 1983 to 1985, he worked in the South Asia Division of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and as the personal secretary to the Foreign Minister. In 1985, he was transferred to Bangladesh’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations in New York, where he represented the country in the UN General Assembly’s Economic and Financial Committee and served as the spokesperson for Least Developed Countries (LDCs) at the UN Economic and Social Council.

In 1991, Dr. Rahman joined the United Nations Secretariat in Geneva as a special Adviser for the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD). He served for 25 years in various key roles at the UN in New York and Geneva, including Executive Head for Economic, Social, and Development Affairs in the UN Secretary-General's Executive Office, Executive Secretary for the UN High-Level Technology Group, and Head of UNCTAD’s Technology, Management, and International Trade Policy Analysis divisions.

Dr. Rahman also played an instrumental role in UN publications, drafting and editing several analytical reports related to trade, economics, and development. He led the drafting of the program for the 2001 Brussels Conference on Least Developed Countries, which resulted in the historic decision to grant duty-free and quota-free access to exports from LDCs.

In 2001, Dr. Rahman served as the personal secretary to the Chief Adviser of the Third Caretaker Government, Justice Latifur Rahman. He is also one of the founding members of East West University in Dhaka and currently serves as a trustee board member at the university.

BDST: 1907 HRS, NOV 19, 2024
MSK