A. K. Abdul Momen | |
|---|---|
এ. কে. আব্দুল মোমেন | |
 Abdul Momen in 2023 | |
| Member of theBangladesh Parliament forSylhet-1 | |
| In office 30 January 2019 – 6 August 2024 | |
| Preceded by | Abul Maal Abdul Muhith |
| Minister of Foreign Affairs | |
| In office 7 January 2019 – 10 January 2024 | |
| Prime Minister | Sheikh Hasina |
| Preceded by | Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali |
| Succeeded by | Hasan Mahmud |
| Permanent Representative of Bangladesh to the United Nations | |
| In office 26 August 2009 – 30 October 2015 | |
| Preceded by | Ismat Jahan |
| Succeeded by | Masud Momen |
| President of UNICEF | |
| In office 2010–2010 | |
| Preceded by | Oumar Daou |
| Succeeded by | Sanja Štiglic |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1947-08-23)23 August 1947 (age 78) |
| Nationality | Bangladeshi |
| Party | Awami League |
| Parents |
|
| Relatives | AM Abdul Muhith (brother) Shahla Khatun (sister) Abdul Hamid (granduncle) |
| Alma mater | |
Abul Kalam Abdul Momen (born 23 August 1947), known asAK Abdul Momen, is a Bangladeshi economist, diplomat, and politician who served asminister of foreign affairs from January 2019 to January 2024. He served aspermanent representative of Bangladesh to the United Nations from August 2009 until October 2015.[1] He was elected a member ofJatiya Sangsad from theSylhet-1 constituency at the2018 general elections.[2] Following his election, he was appointed theminister of foreign affairs by the Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.[3]
Abdul Momen was born on 23 August 1947, to aBengali Muslim political family inSylhet. His father wasAbu Ahmad Abdul Hafiz, a lawyer, who was one of the founders of the Sylhet branch of theAll-India Muslim League and took part in thePakistan Movement.[4] His mother,Syeda Shahar Banu, was one of the leading women of theBengali language movement. He was one of fourteen children. His elder brother wasAM Abdul Muhith, a formerminister of finance, and his sister isShahla Khatun, a physician andNational Professor of Bangladesh.[5]
Abdul Momen passed the matriculation exam fromSylhet Government Pilot High School. He attended theUniversity of Dhaka and earned a BA in economics in 1969, and an MA in development economics in 1971.[6]
Abdul Momen became a civil servant, serving as private secretary to theminister of rural development, local government and cooperatives from 1973 to 1974; private secretary to the minister of trade and commerce, and mineral resources and petroleum from 1974 to 1975; section officer, South Asia, East Asia and Middle East,Ministry of Commerce from 1975 to 1976; and director, Office of the President's Advisor on Trade and Commerce from 1976 to 1978. Meanwhile, he completed an LLB in law and jurisprudence from Central College, Dhaka, in 1976.[6]
Abdul Momen continued his education in the United States, receiving a MPA fromHarvard Kennedy School and a PhD in economics fromNortheastern University, Boston, Massachusetts, in 1988.[6] He taught economics and business administration atMerrimack College,Salem State College, Northeastern University, theUniversity of Massachusetts,Kennedy School of Government atHarvard University[7] and theAmerican International University-Bangladesh.[8]
In 1998, Abdul Momen became an economic adviser at theSaudi Industrial Development Fund (SIDF). He left Saudi Arabia in the wake of the 2003Riyadh compound bombings, and returned to Massachusetts. There he taught in the Department of Economics and Business Administration atFramingham State College until appointed Bangladesh's permanent representative to the United Nations in New York in August 2009.[6]
Abdul Momen served as president of theUNICEF executive board at the international level in 2010.[9][10] He was vice president and acting president of the67thUnited Nations General Assembly.[11] He was the president of the United Nations High-Level Committee on South-South Cooperation in 2014.[11]
Abdul Momen's elder brother, Bangladesh's Minister of FinanceAbul Maal Abdul Muhith, hoped that Abdul Momen would succeed him as a member of the parliament representing theSylhet-1 constituency in the 2018 general election, which he eventually won.[12][2]
Yahoo news[13] reported that Abdul Momen said in February 2020 that Bangladesh had "no obligation" to provide shelter toRohingya refugees who were stranded in the Andaman Sea on a ship. He asked the UNHCR to take the responsibility.[14][15]
Media related toAbul Kalam Abdul Momen at Wikimedia Commons