Brussels, 20 May 2014/ ACP: The ACP Secretary General welcomed the Ambassador of the Republic of Bangladesh to Belgium, the European Union and Luxembourg, H.E Ms. Ismat Jahan to the ACP House for a courtesy visit on Thursday 15 May. The aim was to learn more about the ACP Group and exchange views on how countries such as hers can work better with the ACP in strengthening South-South cooperation.

A career diplomat and a member of the Bangladesh Foreign Service, Ambassador Jahan was Permanent Representative of Bangladesh to the UN in New York (2007-2009) with concurrent accreditation to Peru and Chile, prior to her current post in Belgium. Her professional interests extend to multilateral diplomacy with focus on human rights, disarmament and economic diplomacy, with a particular passion for issues concerning women’s rights and empowerment.

Ambassador Jahan joined the Bangladesh Foreign Service in 1982. Her first Ambassadorial appointment was to the Netherlands (2005–2007) with concurrent accreditation to Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia and Poland. During her long diplomatic career, Ambassador Jahan served in a number of positions both in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Missions abroad including the Permanent Missions to UN in New York, Geneva and Embassies in New Delhi. She was also Director in the Prime Minister’s office.

Ambassador Jahan holds a Master’s Degree in Economics from the University of Dhaka, and a Master’s Degree from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University in Boston. She has also been a Fellow of the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C.

In 2010, Ms. Jahan was elected to the UN Committee on Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) for a four year term (2011-2014) where she is currently the Vice-Chairperson. During her meeting with Secretary-General Muhammad Mumuni, Ambassador Jahan also used the opportunity to solicit the support of ACP member countries in her bid for re-election into the membership of the International Community of the UN Committee on Elimination of Discrimination Against Women.