Dr Khalilur Rahman has been appointed as the High Representative for Rohingya issues and priority matters by the interim government.
The announcement was made through a circular issued on Tuesday (19 November).
The circular stated that Dr Rahman, in his capacity as High Representative, will be entitled to the status, salary, allowances, and related benefits equivalent to that of an adviser. The directive is effective immediately.
Dr Khalilur Rahman joined the Bangladesh Civil Service (Foreign Affairs cadre) in 1979 after achieving first place in the country's first regular BCS examination in 1977.
That same year, he secured the top position with first-class honours in his MA in Economics at the University of Dhaka. Between 1978 and 1979, Dr Rahman served in an executive role at American Express International Bank.
He pursued further education in the United States, earning an MA in Law and Diplomacy and a PhD in Economics from Tufts and Harvard Universities during 1980-83.
In his early career, Dr Khalilur Rahman served in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs South Asia Division and as personal secretary to the foreign minister between 1983 and 1985.
Later in 1985, he was posted to Bangladesh's Permanent Mission to the United Nations in New York, representing the country in the UN General Assembly’s Economic and Financial Committee and serving as a spokesperson for the Least Developed Countries (LDCs) in various UN forums, including the Economic and Social Council.
In 1991, Dr Rahman joined the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) in Geneva as a Special Adviser and served the UN Secretariat for the next 25 years in several key roles.
These included Chief of Economic, Social, and Development Affairs in the Executive Office of the UN Secretary-General; Executive Secretary of the High-Level Technology Group; Head of UNCTAD's Technology and International Trade Policy Analysis Groups; and Bureau Chief of UNCTAD at UN headquarters, among others.
He also chaired the UN’s Inter-Agency Group on Non-Tariff Barriers to Trade and coordinated global programmes on emerging sectors in world trade.
Dr Khalilur Rahman has been a lead contributor to numerous flagship UN publications and analytical reports on trade, economic, and development issues.
Notably, he played a key role in drafting the action plan for the 2001 Brussels Conference on LDCs, which led to the historic decision to grant duty-free and quota-free access for LDC exports.
In 2001, Dr Rahman served as private secretary to Justice Latifur Rahman, the chief adviser of the third caretaker government.
He is also one of the founding members of East West University in Dhaka, where he currently serves as a member of the Board of Trustees.
