Dr. Khalilur Rahman has been appointed as the High Representative to Chief Adviser Prof. Muhammad Yunus, tasked with addressing the Rohingya crisis and other critical national priorities.  According to a gazette notification issued on (19 November), Dr. Rahman will hold privileges equivalent to that of an adviser.  

Dr. Rahman began his diplomatic career in 1979, emerging as the top candidate in the first regular Bangladesh Civil Service (BCS) exams. That same year, he graduated with a first-class Master’s degree in Economics from Dhaka University and briefly worked at American Express International Bank before joining the Foreign Service.  

He later advanced his academic credentials at prestigious institutions, including the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University and the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, earning a Master’s in Law and Diplomacy and a Ph.D. in Economics.  

Throughout his career, Dr. Rahman has held significant roles within Bangladesh’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and its Permanent Mission to the UN. He served as Private Secretary to the Foreign Minister and represented Least Developed Countries (LDCs) at the UN Economic and Financial Committee.  

In 1991, he transitioned to the United Nations Secretariat as a Special Adviser at UNCTAD in Geneva. Over the next 25 years, he took on senior roles in New York and Geneva, including Head of Economic, Social, and Development Affairs in the Executive Office of the UN Secretary-General, Chief of the LDCs Programme, and Chair of the UN Interagency Group on Non-Tariff Barriers to Trade.  

Dr. Rahman’s contributions to UN policy frameworks are significant, including drafting the Programme of Action for the 2001 Brussels LDCs Conference and championing duty- and quota-free market access for LDC exports.  

In addition to his diplomatic achievements, Dr. Rahman briefly served as Private Secretary to Justice Latifur Rahman, the Chief Adviser of Bangladesh’s caretaker government in 2001.
 

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