Abul Kalam Abdul Momen ( bn, আবুল কালাম আব্দুল মোমেন; born 23 August 1947), popularly known as AK Abdul Momen, is a Bangladeshi economist, diplomat, and politician who has served as

Minister of Foreign Affairs A foreign affairs minister or minister of foreign affairs (less commonly minister for foreign affairs) is generally a cabinet minister in charge of a state's foreign policy and relations. The formal title of the top official varies between cou ...

Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...

since January 2019. Momen served as Permanent Representative of Bangladesh to the United Nations from August 2009 until October 2015. He was elected

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

for

Sylhet-1 Sylhet-1 is a constituency represented in the Jatiya Sangsad (National Parliament) of Bangladesh since 2019 by AK Abdul Momen of the Awami League. Boundaries The constituency encompasses Sylhet City Corporation and Sylhet Sadar Upazila. Histo ...

during the 2018 General Elections. Following his election, Momen was appointed

by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

Early life and education

Abul Kalam Abdul Momen was born on 23 August 1947, to a

Bengali Muslim Bengali Muslims ( bn, বাঙালি মুসলমান; ) are adherents of Islam who ethnically, linguistically and genealogically identify as Bengalis. Comprising about two-thirds of the global Bengali population, they are the sec ...

political family in

Sylhet Sylhet ( bn, সিলেট) is a metropolitan city in northeastern Bangladesh. It is the administrative seat of the Sylhet Division. Located on the north bank of the Surma River at the eastern tip of Bengal, Sylhet has a subtropical climate an ...

. His father, Abu Ahmad Abdul Hafiz, was a prominent lawyer who was one of the founders of the Sylhet branch of the

All-India Muslim League The All-India Muslim League (AIML) was a political party established in Dhaka in 1906 when a group of prominent Muslim politicians met the Viceroy of British India, Lord Minto, with the goal of securing Muslim interests on the Indian subcontin ...

and took part in the

Pakistan Movement The Pakistan Movement ( ur, , translit=Teḥrīk-e-Pākistān) was a political movement in the first half of the 20th century that aimed for the creation of Pakistan from the Muslim-majority areas of British India. It was connected to the pe ...

. His mother, Syeda Shahar Banu, was one of the leading women of the Bengali language movement. He was one of fourteen children. His elder brother is AM Abdul Muhith, the former

Minister of Finance A finance minister is an executive or cabinet position in charge of one or more of government finances, economic policy and financial regulation. A finance minister's portfolio has a large variety of names around the world, such as "treasury", " ...

for Bangladesh, and his sister is

Shahla Khatun Professor Shahla Khatun FCPS FRCOG ( bn, শাহলা খাতুন) is a Bangladeshi physician and National Professor. Early life and family Khatun was born into a Bengali Muslim political family in Sylhet. Her father, Abu Ahmad Abdul H ...

, a physician and

National Professor National Professor ( bn, জাতীয় অধ্যাপক) is a prestigious teaching award given by the Government of Bangladesh for outstanding contribution on the field of education. It is awarded by the president of Bangladesh according ...

of Bangladesh. He passed the matriculation exam from

Sylhet Government Pilot High School The Sylhet Government Pilot High School ( bn, সিলেট সরকারি পাইলট উচ্চ বিদ্যালয়) is one of the fourth oldest schools in Bangladesh as well as one of the oldest in Indian Subcontinent. It i ...

. He attended the

University of Dhaka The University of Dhaka (also known as Dhaka University, or DU) is a public research university located in Dhaka, Bangladesh. It is the oldest university in Bangladesh. The university opened its doors to students on July 1st 1921. Currently i ...

and earned a BA in economics in 1969, and an MA in development economics in 1971.

Career

Momen became a civil servant, serving as Private Secretary to the Minister 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 A Ministry of Trade and Industry, Ministry of Commerce, Ministry of Commerce and Industry or variations is a ministry that is concerned with a nation's trade, industry and commerce. Notable examples are: List *Algeria: Ministry of Industry and M ...

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. Momen continued his education in the United States, receiving a PhD in economics from

Northeastern University Northeastern University (NU) is a private university, private research university with its main campus in Boston. Established in 1898, the university offers undergraduate and graduate programs on its main campus as well as satellite campuses in ...

, Boston, Massachusetts, in 1988. He taught economics and business administration at

Merrimack College Merrimack College is a private Augustinian university in North Andover, Massachusetts. It was founded in 1947 by the Order of St. Augustine with an initial goal to educate World War II veterans. Its campus has grown to a campus with nearly 40 bu ...

Salem State College Salem State University (Salem State or SSU) is a public university in Salem, Massachusetts. Established in 1854, it is the oldest and largest institute of higher education on the North Shore and is part of the state university system in Massa ...

, Northeastern University, the

University of Massachusetts The University of Massachusetts is the five-campus public university system and the only public research system in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The university system includes five campuses (Amherst, Boston, Dartmouth, Lowell, and a medica ...

, and the

Kennedy School of Government The Harvard Kennedy School (HKS), officially the John F. Kennedy School of Government, is the school of public policy and government of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The school offers master's degrees in public policy, public ...

at Harvard University. In 1998, Momen became an economic adviser at the Saudi Industrial Development Fund (SIDF). He left Saudi Arabia in the wake of the 2003

Riyadh compound bombings Two major bombings took place in residential compounds in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia in 2003. On 12 May 2003, 39 people were killed, and over 160 wounded when bombs went off at three compounds in Riyadh—Dorrat Al Jadawel, Al Hamra Oasis Village, an ...

, and returned to Massachusetts. There he taught in the Department of Economics and Business Administration at

Framingham State College Framingham State University (Framingham State or FSU) is a public university in Framingham, Massachusetts. It offers undergraduate programs as well as graduate programs, including MBA, MEd, and MS. History As the first secretary of the newly ...

until appointed Bangladesh's Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York in August 2009. Momen served as President of the

UNICEF UNICEF (), originally called the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund in full, now officially United Nations Children's Fund, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing Humanitarianism, humanitarian and Devel ...

Executive Board at the international level in 2010. He was vice president and Acting President of the 67th

United Nations General Assembly The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA or GA; french: link=no, Assemblée générale, AG) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN), serving as the main deliberative, policymaking, and representative organ of the UN. Curr ...

. Momen was President of the United Nations High-Level Committee on South-South Cooperation in 2014. Momen's elder brother, Bangladesh's Minister of Finance

Abul Maal Abdul Muhith Abul Maal Abdul Muhith (25 January 1934 – 30 April 2022) was a Bangladeshi economist, writer, civil servant, secretary, diplomat and politician. He served as the Finance Minister of the government of Bangladesh from January 2009 until January ...

, hoped that Momen would succeed him as a member of the parliament representing the

constituency in the 2018 general election, which he eventually won. Yahoo news reports that Momen said in February 2020 that Bangladesh had “no obligation” to provide shelter to

Rohingya The Rohingya people () are a stateless Indo-Aryan ethnic group who predominantly follow Islam and reside in Rakhine State, Myanmar (previously known as Burma). Before the Rohingya genocide in 2017, when over 740,000 fled to Bangladesh, an ...

refugees who were stranded in the Andaman Sea on a ship. He asked the UNHCR to take the responsibility.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Momen, Abulkalam Abdul 1947 births Living people University of Dhaka alumni Framingham State University faculty Northeastern University alumni Bangladeshi diplomats Permanent Representatives of Bangladesh to the United Nations Chairmen and Presidents of UNICEF Harvard Kennedy School faculty Harvard Business School alumni Bangladeshi officials of the United Nations 11th Jatiya Sangsad members Foreign ministers of Bangladesh Bangladeshi people of Arab descent

Early life and education

Career

References

Further reading

External links