Ambassador Anwarul K. Chowdhury
Ambassador Anwarul K. Chowdhury served from 2002 to 2007 as
the Under-Secretary-General and High Representative of
the United Nations, responsible for the most vulnerable
countries of the world.
A career diplomat, he served as Ambassador and Permanent
Representative of Bangladesh to the United Nations in New York
from 1996 to 2001. He also served as Bangladesh’s
Ambassador to Chile, Nicaragua, Peru and Venezuela, as well as
Bangladesh’s High Commissioner to the Bahamas and Guyana.
Ambassador Chowdhury served as President of the United
Nations Security Council for two terms in 2000 and 2001 and
Chairman and President of the UNICEF Executive Board in
1985 and in 2000.
He spearheaded a pioneering initiative of the United Nations
General Assembly in 1999 for adoption of the landmark
Programme of Action on a Culture of Peace and proclamation
of the “International Decade for Culture
of Peace and Nonviolence
for the Children of the World
(2001-2010)”
His initiative in March 2000 as the President of the Security
Council led to the adoption of the groundbreaking UN
Security Council Resolution 1325 on the role of women
in peace and security.
He also chaired the Administrative and Budgetary Committee of
the United Nations General Assembly in 1997-1998. He was
Vice-President of the Economic & Social Council of the United
Nations for two terms in 1997 and 1998
In March 2003, the Soka University of Japan, conferred on
Ambassador Chowdhury an Honorary
Doctorate
for his work on women’s issues, child rights and culture of
peace as well as for the strengthening of the United
Nations.
He is the recipient of the U Thant Peace Award and the
UNESCO Gandhi Gold Medal for Culture of Peace.
He has been decorated by the Government of Burkina Faso with the
country’s highest honour “L’Ordre Nacionale” on 18 June
2007 in Ouagadougou for his championship of the cause of the
most vulnerable countries.
Ambassador Chowdhury is the Chair of the International
Drafting Committee on the Human Right to Peace, an
initiative based in Barcelona, Spain.
He is the Chair of the International Day Peace NGO Committee
at the United Nations since 2008.
He
is an Honorary Patron of the Committee on Teaching About the UN
(CTAUN), New York.
Ambassador Chowdhury received the first Institute
for
Global Leadership Lifetime Service Award
on
1 May 2007 at the conference on New Leadership Models for
Worcester, United States and the World in Worcester,
Massachusetts.
The UN NGO Committee on Spirituality, Values and Global Concerns
conferred their first “SPIRIT OF THE
UNITED NATIONS” Award
on Ambassador Chowdhury on 26 October 2007.
Dr. Chowdhury has structured curricula and taught courses on
“The Culture of Peace” at the Soka University of America,
Los Angeles and the City University of New York in 2008 and
2009.
He also served as an Adjunct Professor at the School of
Diplomacy, Seton Hall University of the United States.
8 July 2010 |
