Ambassador Anwarul K. Chowdhury
Former UN Under-Secretary-General, Initiator of UNSR 1325
Ambassador Chowdhury has devoted many years as an inspirational champion for sustainable peace and development and ardently advancing the cause of the global movement for the culture of peace that has energized civil society all over the world.
As a career diplomat, Permanent Representative to United Nations, President of the UN Security Council, President of UNICEF Board, UN Under- Secretary-General, and recipient of the U Thant Peace Award, UNESCO Gandhi Gold Medal for Culture of Peace, Spirit of the UN Award and University of Massachusetts Boston Chancellor’s Medal for Global Leadership for Peace, Ambassador Chowdhury has a wealth of experience in the critical issues of our time - peace, sustainable development, and human rights.
Ambassador Chowdhury’s legacy and leadership in advancing the best interest of the global community are boldly imprinted in his pioneering initiative in March 2000 as the President of the Security Council that achieved the political and conceptual breakthrough leading to the adoption of the groundbreaking UN Security Council Resolution 1325 which for the first time recognized the role and contribution of women in the area of peace and security. He is currently a member of the UN High-Level Advisory Group on the Global Study for 15-year review of the implementation of UNSCR 1325.
Equally pioneering are his initiatives at the United Nations General Assembly in 1999 for adoption of the landmark Declaration and Programme of Action on a Culture of Peace and in 1998 for the proclamation of the “International Decade for Culture of Peace and Nonviolence for the Children of the World (2001-2010)”.
He served as Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Bangladesh to the United Nations in New York from 1996 to 2001 and as the Under-Secretary-General and High Representative of the United Nations, responsible for the most vulnerable countries of the world from 2002 to 2007.
Ambassador Chowdhury is a member of the Advisory Council of IMPACT Leadership 21 and is the first recipient of the IMPACT’s Global Summit Frederick Douglass Award Honoring Men Who Are Champions For Women's Advancement in October 2013.
He is the Honorary Chair of the International Day of Peace NGO Committee at the UN, New York and Chairman of the Global Forum on Human Settlements, both since 2008. He has been a part of the 12-member Wisdom Council of the Summer of Peace for the years 2012-2015, a world-wide participatory initiative to advance the Culture of Peace.
He is the founding Co-Chair of the International Ecological Safety Collaborative Organization (IESCO). Dr. Chowdhury has structured curricula and taught courses on “The Culture of Peace” at the Soka University of America and the City University of New York. He also served as an Adjunct Professor at the School of Diplomacy, Seton Hall University of the United States.
As a career diplomat, Permanent Representative to United Nations, President of the UN Security Council, President of UNICEF Board, UN Under- Secretary-General, and recipient of the U Thant Peace Award, UNESCO Gandhi Gold Medal for Culture of Peace, Spirit of the UN Award and University of Massachusetts Boston Chancellor’s Medal for Global Leadership for Peace, Ambassador Chowdhury has a wealth of experience in the critical issues of our time - peace, sustainable development, and human rights.
Ambassador Chowdhury’s legacy and leadership in advancing the best interest of the global community are boldly imprinted in his pioneering initiative in March 2000 as the President of the Security Council that achieved the political and conceptual breakthrough leading to the adoption of the groundbreaking UN Security Council Resolution 1325 which for the first time recognized the role and contribution of women in the area of peace and security. He is currently a member of the UN High-Level Advisory Group on the Global Study for 15-year review of the implementation of UNSCR 1325.
Equally pioneering are his initiatives at the United Nations General Assembly in 1999 for adoption of the landmark Declaration and Programme of Action on a Culture of Peace and in 1998 for the proclamation of the “International Decade for Culture of Peace and Nonviolence for the Children of the World (2001-2010)”.
He served as Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Bangladesh to the United Nations in New York from 1996 to 2001 and as the Under-Secretary-General and High Representative of the United Nations, responsible for the most vulnerable countries of the world from 2002 to 2007.
Ambassador Chowdhury is a member of the Advisory Council of IMPACT Leadership 21 and is the first recipient of the IMPACT’s Global Summit Frederick Douglass Award Honoring Men Who Are Champions For Women's Advancement in October 2013.
He is the Honorary Chair of the International Day of Peace NGO Committee at the UN, New York and Chairman of the Global Forum on Human Settlements, both since 2008. He has been a part of the 12-member Wisdom Council of the Summer of Peace for the years 2012-2015, a world-wide participatory initiative to advance the Culture of Peace.
He is the founding Co-Chair of the International Ecological Safety Collaborative Organization (IESCO). Dr. Chowdhury has structured curricula and taught courses on “The Culture of Peace” at the Soka University of America and the City University of New York. He also served as an Adjunct Professor at the School of Diplomacy, Seton Hall University of the United States.
