CFAS Management: Ambassador Shamim Ahmed

Ambassador F.A.Shamim Ahmed joined the Foreign Service in 1974 and served in various capacities in the Bangladesh Foreign Ministry and Embassies abroad. His assignments have pertained mainly to South Asia and UN and multilateral matters.

Before his retirement in May 2007 as Ambassador Grade A and Secretary to the government. Ambassador Shamim Ahmed served as the country’s High Commissioner to Pakistan for four years. Prior to that he was Bangladesh Ambassador to the Kingdom of the Netherlands and, concurrently, Permanent Representative to the Organisation for Prevention of Chemical Weapons (OPCW).

Ambassador Ahmed served as the Deputy Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York from 1997 – 2000. He was a member of the Bangladesh’s delegation to the Security Council in 2000 with the rank of Ambassador. He also served as Consul General in New York.

His other diplomatic assignments were Deputy Chief of Mission in Islamabad; Deputy Chief of Mission in Rome with accreditation as Alternate Permanent Representative to the UN FAO, World Food Programme and the International Fund for Agricultural Development.; Second / First Secretary in Tokyo and second Secretary in Nairobi with accreditation to the headquarters of the United Nations Environment Programme. He attended a Foreign Service training programme in Canberra, Australia in 1976.

Ambassador Shamim Ahmed’s various assignments in the Foreign Ministry in Dhaka include Director General of the South Asia desk, Chef d’Cabinet to the Foreign Minister, Director of the South Asia desk, Director Southeast Asia, Director in charge of the Finance Directorate, desk officer for West Europe and desk officer for India. In his capacity as the head of the South Asia wing in the Ministry he was closely associated with the process leading to the signing of the Ganges Water Treaty with India in December 1996 and agreement on repatriation of the tribal refugees in October 1997.

Born in 1948, Ambassador Ahmed earned Honours and Master’s degrees in Sociology from the University of Dhaka. He also served as a Lecturer in the Department of Sociology in Chittagong University, prior to joining the diplomatic service.

Ambassador Shamim Ahmed is married to Shabnam Ahmed (nee Hussein) and they have a son and a daughter.