Under Secretary-General and High Representative

Ms. Rabab Fatima
Under Secretary-General and High Representative for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States.

Ms. Rabab Fatima was appointed as the Under Secretary-General and High Representative for the Least Developed Countries (LDCs), Landlocked Developing Countries (LLDCs) and Small Island Developing States (SIDS) in August 2022 by the United Nations Secretary-General.

As the High Representative, Ms. Rabab Fatima is responsible to support the LDCs, LLDCs, and SIDS in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, and their respective programmes of action adopted by global consensus. Together, these groups of countries constitute the 92 most vulnerable countries in the world. 

Ms. Fatima has more than thirty years of experience in national and international civil service, encompassing bilateral and multilateral diplomacy, policymaking, advocacy, programme planning and implementation.

Prior to her appointment, she was the Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Bangladesh to the United Nations in New York. In that role, she co-chaired the preparatory committee meetings of the Fifth United Nations Conference on the LDC (2021). She also served as the President of the Executive Boards of UNICEF (2020) and UN-Women (2022) as well as Vice-President of the UNDP/UNFPA/UNOPS Executive Board. She was the first women to be elected as the Chair of the Peacebuilding Commission in 2022. She also led other inter-governmental processes, including the facilitation of the progress declaration of the first International Migration Review Forum.

As a career diplomat of Bangladesh, Ms. Fatima was the Ambassador of Bangladesh to Japan (2016-2019). She served as Director-General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Bangladesh (2015-2016), Regional Representative for South Asia (2007-2011) and Regional Adviser for South and South-West Asia and Regional Adviser for Climate Change and Migration (2012-2015) of the International Organization for Migration (IOM), Geneva, and was Head of Human Rights at the Commonwealth Secretariat, London (2006-2007).

The Secretary-General of the United Nations appointed her as the Secretary-General of the Third United Nations Conference of the LLDCs (LLDC3) and the Special Adviser of the Fourth United Nations Conference of the SIDS (SIDS4). In both those capacities, she will lead and support the preparations and successful holding of these two important conferences to be held in 2024. She also serves as the Secretary-General’s representative on the Council of the United Nations Technology Bank for the LDCs. 

USG Fatima holds a master’s degree in international relations and diplomacy from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University, United States, and a bachelor’s degree in social science from the University of Canberra, Australia.

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