Mr Md Shahidul Haque has been serving as Foreign Secretary (Senior Secretary) of the Government of Bangladesh since 10 January 2013. He was the Chair of the 9th Global Forum on Migration and Development. He served as an Independent Expert to the United Nations Committee on the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of their Families for the term 2014-2017 and has recently been re-elected for another four-year term (2018-2021), having secured the highest number of votes. He is also a member of the Migration Advisory Board of International Organization for Migration (IOM). Mr Haque has been actively promoting human rights of migrants and pro-actively working with non-government organisations and civil society organisations to advocate the rights of migrant workers.

From 2001 to 2012, Mr Haque served at the IOM on lien from the Government of Bangladesh, occupying several senior positions in field offices and the headquarters in Geneva. Before returning to the Government of Bangladesh, he served as the Director of IOM (2010-2012) dealing with the IOM’s external relations, donors’ liaison and international migration policy. He also served as the Regional Representative for the Middle-East (based in Cairo, 2007-2009) and as the Regional Representative for South Asia (based in Dhaka, 2001-2006). In recognition of his outstanding and committed services to the IOM, Mr Haque received the IOM Director General’s award in 2005.

Mr Haque earlier worked in Bangladesh Missions in London, Bangkok and Geneva. He had also served as Director in various wings of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Bangladesh, including as the Director of Foreign Secretary’s Office (1996-1998). He represented Bangladesh in various international fora. As a Counsellor/Minister at the Bangladesh Permanent Mission in Geneva, he dealt with the World Intellectual Property Organization the International Labour Organization, IOM and the International Atomic Energy Agency (Vienna).

Mr Haque obtained an MA (International Relations) from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy in the United States (1988) and was awarded Honourable Mention for Robert B Steward Prize for high academic achievement. He stood First Class First, both in Master’s and Honour’s, in Social Welfare from the University of Dhaka. He was also awarded the Dhaka University Chancellor’s Award, the Grants Commission Award and the Chancellor’s Gold Medal for his outstanding academic accomplishment.

Mr Haque’s areas of academic interests include migration, climate change, development, trade and human rights issues. His articles on migration and human trafficking issues have been published in various national and international journals. He served on the Editorial Board of the IOM World Migration Report and also contributed to IOM’s 3 volume training guide on Essentials of Migration Management (2004) as well as IOM-OSCE Trainers Manual on Labour Migration Management (2010).

Mr Haque is married with two daughters.