Syed Hassan Raza ( Urdu:سید حسن رضا) (born 4 January 1959) is a Pakistani diplomat and a former senior career

foreign service officer A Foreign Service Officer (FSO) is a commissioned member of the United States Foreign Service. Foreign Service Officers formulate and implement the foreign policy of the United States. FSOs spend most of their careers overseas as members of U ...

. He served as the Special Secretary at Pakistan's Foreign Office, overseeing the Middle East, OIC & Legal divisions. Prior to this appointment, he was the High Commissioner of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan to Malaysia, and previously the

Ambassador An ambassador is an official envoy, especially a high-ranking diplomat who represents a state and is usually accredited to another sovereign state or to an international organization as the resident representative of their own government or sov ...

to the State of Qatar. On November 19, 2018, Ambassador Raza was promoted to Grade 22, the highest attainable rank in the Civil Service of Pakistan.

Early life and education

Raza was born on January 4, 1959, in Lahore, Pakistan. His father Syed Iftikhar Ahmed was a lawyer of the Supreme Court of Pakistan and the Deputy Attorney General of Pakistan from 1978 to 1984. He attended the

St. Anthony's High School (Lahore) , motto_translation = Knowledge with Virtue , established = , type = Private pre-school, primary, high school and college , gender = Boys , religion = Catholicism , denomination = , patron = St. Anthony of Padua , affiliations = , ...

and later, the University of the Punjab, to study Law, Political Science & Government. Later in 1989, he attended Columbia University in New York City, where he studied International Affairs, South Asian studies, Human Rights and International Law.

Diplomatic career

He joined the Foreign Service of Pakistan in 1986, belonging to the 14th common. At the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Headquarters in Islamabad, his first assignments included serving as the desk officer for the United Nations and subsequently for Afghanistan. He also served as an assistant legal adviser for international law and treaties. From 2009 to 2013 he was appointed as the Director-General Economic Coordination & FODP ( Friends of Democratic Pakistan) divisions at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Pakistan), Islamabad. Syed Hassan Raza

His foreign diplomatic assignments include working as a political officer in the Office of the UN Special Representative for Somalia,

Admiral Admiral is one of the highest ranks in some navies. In the Commonwealth nations and the United States, a "full" admiral is equivalent to a "full" general in the army or the air force, and is above vice admiral and below admiral of the fleet, ...

Jonathan Howe in Mogadishu, from 1993 to 1994, at the height of the country's civil war. It was during his stay when the Battle of Mogadishu took place on 3 and 4 October 1993. He was then posted to

Bishkek Bishkek ( ky, Бишкек), ), formerly Pishpek and Frunze, is the capital and largest city of Kyrgyzstan. Bishkek is also the administrative centre of the Chüy Region. The region surrounds the city, although the city itself is not part of ...

, Kyrgyzstan at the Embassy of Pakistan from 1995 to 1998. He returned to work in the Central Asia region from 2001 to 2003 as the deputy Head of Mission at the embassy of Pakistan in

Almaty Almaty (; kk, Алматы; ), formerly known as Alma-Ata ( kk, Алма-Ата), is the List of most populous cities in Kazakhstan, largest city in Kazakhstan, with a population of about 2 million. It was the capital of Kazakhstan from 1929 to ...

, Kazakhstan. In 2003 he was posted to

Jeddah Jeddah ( ), also spelled Jedda, Jiddah or Jidda ( ; ar, , Jidda, ), is a city in the Hejaz region of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) and the country's commercial center. Established in the 6th century BC as a fishing village, Jeddah's pro ...

, Saudi Arabia as the deputy Consul General of Pakistan and concurrently represented Pakistan to the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) until 2005. In 2005 he joined the OIC as an advisor to the OIC secretary-general, Ekmeleddin İhsanoğlu, on political and legal affairs. He worked in the OIC for three years, on various issues such as the reform and restructure of the organization, including its new Charter. He left the OIC in 2009 to return to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Headquarters at Islamabad. He served as the D-8 (Developing-8) commissioner of Pakistan from 2009 until his appointment as Pakistan's ambassador to Qatar.

Personal life

Ambassador Raza is married to Anila Hassan, President of

Pakistan Foreign Office Women's Association Pakistan Foreign Office Women's Association (PFOWA) is a non-political, non profit, charitable organization, dedicated to the welfare of the low paid employees of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and their families. It aims to assist their children ...

. They have two sons.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Raza, Syed Hassan 1959 births Living people Ambassadors of Pakistan to Qatar School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University alumni High commissioners of Pakistan to Malaysia University of the Punjab alumni People from Lahore Government College University, Lahore alumni Pakistani expatriates in Somalia Pakistani expatriates in Kyrgyzstan Pakistani expatriates in Kazakhstan Pakistani expatriates in Saudi Arabia St. Anthony's High School, Lahore alumni