Ambassador MOHAMED MIJARUL QUAYES assumed charge of Foreign Secretary on 08 July 2009. Prior to this, he was Ambassador of Bangladesh to the Russian Federation with concurrent accreditation to Belarus, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Ukrain. A carrier Foreign Service Officer, he also served as the Bangladesh High Commissioner to the Maldives from 2005 to 2008.

Quayes was educated at Dhaka University and Harvard Kennedy School of Government. At Harvard, he was an Edward S. Mason Fellow in Public Policy and Management and studied under Amartya Sen, Robert Nozick, Shirley Williams, Richard Neustad, Ernest May and Robert Vogel. At Dhaka University, he is a fellow of the Centre for Alternatives. He is a life member of the UN Association of Bangladesh.

Mijarul Quayes has extensive multilateral experience, covering broadly human rights, migration and refugee issues, humanitarian law, disarmamentand environment. He has been associated in the drafting of two optional Protocols to the Convention on the Rights of the Child (concerning children inarmed conflict and commercial exploitation of children) and the Declaration onthe Rights of Indigenous People. He has served as Vice-Chairman of the Biological Weapons Convention 4th Review Conference (1996), Rapporteur of the Annual Council of the International Organization for Migration (1997) and as an Expert on the Human Rights Commission’s 5-memberWorking Group on Migrants and Human Rights (1997-1998). He has also chaired the International Seminar on Emigration Dynamics in Developing Countries concludinga four-year IOM-UNFPA project (1997).

During his professional career, Quayes has served indifferent capacities in Bangladesh missions in Tokyo, Geneva and Singapore.Between 2001 and 2005, he headed successively, three separate Divisions (SAARC, Southeast Asia and Multilateral Economic Affairs) in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. At headquarters, he has also served ex-officio on the governing bodies of the Bangladesh Institute of International and Strategic Studies (BIISS), Bangladesh Institute of Law and International Affairs (BILIA), Bangladesh Export Promotion Bureau and Bangladesh ICT Business Promotion Council.

Mijarul Quayes has taught at the North South University and BRAC University in Dhaka and has been a resource for the Foreign Service Academy, the National Defence College and the Public Administration TrainingCentre. He also teaches aesthetics and the history of art at the National Academy of the Arts in Dhaka. He is actively involved with several cultural andacademic institutions and the organisation of some of the premier cultural events in Dhaka, including the Asian Art Biennale-Bangladesh, and the Dhaka International Film Festival. He served as a member of the International Jury Board for the 11th Asian Art Biennale Bangladesh and on the jury for international film festivals. He is an active member of the International Theatre Institute, Bangladesh Chapter and is associated with Magsaysay award winner Abdullah Abu Sayeed in the establishment of the Bishwo Shahitto kendro.

He continues to be active in research and academic work.Recent research projects include a regional project on the State of Democracyin South Asia, Assessment of the Sustainable Environment Management Programme (SEMP), People’s Report on the Bangladesh Environment. He has also contributedto the Banglapaedia (Asiatic Society of Bangladesh) and the Thematic Dictionary (Centre for Alternatives, Dhaka University). He writes and lectures on the artsand aesthetics, drama, film etc. and cross-disciplinary policy issues.

Mijarul Quayes hails from Kishoregonj. He is married to Naeema Chaudhury Quayes and has two daughters. He collects art pieces.

Posted by South Asian Foreign Relations on 2009-09-26 15:33:36

Tagged: , Mr. Mohamed Mijarul Quayes , Secretary of Foreign Affairs of Bangladesh (From July 2009)