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Profile of Dr. Md. Monwar Hossain, PhD |
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Dr. Md. Monwar Hossain was appointed as Ambassador Extraordinary & Plenipotentiary of Bangladesh to Myanmar on 12 January 2023 and joined Bangladesh Embassy in Yangon in July 2023.
Prior to becoming Ambassador of Bangladesh to Myanmar, Dr. Md. Monwar Hossain was Deputy Permanent Representative of Bangladesh to the United Nations in New York since November 2020. At this position, he coordinates all activities of Bangladesh delegates of different committees of the UNGA and covers Plenary issues and UN Security Council. Before assuming the position of DPR, he was working as Minister (Political) at the Permanent Mission in New York, coordinating Mission’s activities on various cross-cutting issues of 2nd and 3rd committees such as implementation of 2030 Agenda and SDGs, Global health issues, Rohingya issues, Human rights issues, Climate change, LDC issues, Graduation of Bangladesh, Migration etc. He was also acting as COVID-19 focal point of the Mission in which capacity he had coordinated Mission’s response to overall health and socio-economic impact related discourses at the United Nations.
As Bangladesh DPR, he facilitated two first-ever UNGA resolutions, on ‘Vision for Everyone: accelerating action to achieve the SDGs’ and ‘Global Drowning Prevention’ in 2021 following three years of intensive ground work. The resolutions addressed two significant global challenges faced mostly by the people of low-and middle-income countries.
In May 2023, he facilitated and led a new UNGA resolution titled 'Community-Based Primary Health Care: A Participatory and Inclusive Approach to Achieving Universal Health Coverage' which was adopted unanimously.The successful initiative of community health care in Bangladesh through public-private partnership has been acknowledged and gained global recognition in this UN resolution.
As a diplomat with the Bangladesh Foreign Ministry since 2001, he has served in key positions both in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Dhaka and abroad during his career. These include among others heading the South Asia Wing of the Ministry as Director General from mid-2016-2018 and as Director from 2015 to mid-2016. As Director General (South Asia), he coordinated, among others, the implementation of historic Land Boundary Agreement and exchange of enclaves between Bangladesh and India. He also worked towards several others significant MoUs/agreements with Bhutan, Maldives, Nepal, and Sri Lanka. During his tenure as Director General (South Asia), Bangladesh and India had started first ever formal mechanisms on Consular issues.
Prior to his last stint at the Ministry, he worked in Bangladesh Embassy in Washington, DC and High Commission in Singapore as Second/First Secretary and Counsellor respectively. In Washington, DC, he pioneered and contributed to, as Editor, ‘Vibrant Bangladesh’ which was the first ever monthly online embassy magazine in Bangladesh missions abroad. He also worked on “outside the beltway diplomacy” and followed congressional, community and think tanks related issues while in Washington, DC. In Singapore, he worked to promote trade and commercial relations and pursued health diplomacy, among other issues.
In his earlier years as a young Foreign Service officer, he served in the United Nations Wing at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Dhaka as Assistant Secretary and Senior Assistant Secretary. He attended eight (8) UNGA sessions in New York as a member of Bangladesh delegation and represented Bangladesh in numerous other conferences, including Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) Summit, World Health Assembly (WHA), OIC, SAARC, BIMSTEC summit etc. He coordinated 14 VVIP visits in Dhaka, Singapore and New York.
He graduated from Chittagong Medical College in Bangladesh with MBBS (Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery) degree. He continued his further studies in the UK (London School of Economics) as a Chevening Scholar where he received an MSc. in Health Economics and obtained Diploma from London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) in Health Policy, Planning and Financing. He obtained Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D) in Public Health Communication from Nanyang Technological University.
Dr. Hossain received training on contemporary diplomatic practices, namely, Public Diplomacy and Cultural Diplomacy from Asia-Europe Foundation, Singapore, and Internet Governance from Diplo Foundation, Geneva. He was also trained on International River Law from University of Geneva and Water Diplomacy from Harvard Law School and Tufts, USA.
He topped in his batch of Bangladesh Civil Service (BCS) Foreign Affairs (FA) cadre after securing the 1st position among all cadres in the 20th BCS exam. He received Rector Medal (Best overall achievement award) during the foundation training for probationers. Before entering the diplomatic service, he joined the 18th BCS (Health) cadre and practiced medicine in Bangladesh. He received Chancellor awards from the President of Bangladesh for his outstanding academic achievements.
He is married to Ms. Ayesha Haq and they are blessed with one son
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