MarlonBernhardt at 23:49, 23 February 2026

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{{Short description|Former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bangladesh}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2024}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name = A. K. Abdul Momen
| native_name = {{nobold|এ. কে. আব্দুল মোমেন}}
| native_name_lang = bn
| image = Abul Kalam Abdul Momen 2023.jpg
| caption = Abdul Momen in 2023
| parliament = Bangladesh
| term_start = 30 January 2019
| term_end = 6 August 2024
| predecessor = [[Abul Maal Abdul Muhith]]
| successor = [[Khandaker Abdul Muktadir]]
| office1 = [[Minister of Foreign Affairs (Bangladesh)|Minister of Foreign Affairs]]
| primeminister1 = [[Sheikh Hasina]]
| term_start1 = 7 January 2019
| term_end1 = 10 January 2024
| predecessor1 = [[Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali]]
| successor1 = [[Hasan Mahmud (politician)|Hasan Mahmud]]
| office2 = [[Permanent Representative to the United Nations|Permanent Representative of Bangladesh to the United Nations]]
| term_start2 = 26 August 2009
| term_end2 = 30 October 2015
| predecessor2 = [[Ismat Jahan]]
| successor2 = [[Masud Momen]]
| office3 = [[UNICEF|President of UNICEF]]
| term_start3 = 2010
| term_end3 = 2010
| predecessor3 = [[Oumar Daou]]
| successor3 = [[Sanja Štiglic]]
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|df=yes|1947|08|23}}
| birth_place = [[Sylhet]], [[East Bengal]], [[Dominion of Pakistan]]
| nationality = [[Bangladeshis|Bangladeshi]]
| alma_mater = {{ubl|[[University of Dhaka]]|[[Northeastern University]]}}
| relatives = [[Abul Maal Abdul Muhith|AM Abdul Muhith]] (brother)<br />[[Shahla Khatun]] (sister)<br />[[Minister Abdul Hamid|Abdul Hamid]] (granduncle)
| mother = [[Syeda Shahar Banu]]
| father = [[Abu Ahmad Abdul Hafiz]]
| party = [[Awami League]]
| constituency = [[Sylhet-1]]
| office = [[Jatiya Sangsad|Member of Parliament]]
}}
'''Abul Kalam Abdul Momen''' (born 23 August 1947), known as '''AK Abdul Momen''', is a Bangladeshi economist, diplomat, and politician who served as [[Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Bangladesh)|minister of foreign affairs]] from January 2019 to January 2024. He served as [[Permanent Mission of Bangladesh to the United Nations|permanent representative of Bangladesh to the United Nations]] from August 2009 until October 2015.<ref>{{cite news |title=Masud Momen new Bangladesh's UN envoy |url=http://www.thedailystar.net/country/masud-momen-new-bangladesh%E2%80%99s-un-envoy-166696 |newspaper=The Daily Star |date=3 November 2015 |access-date=31 August 2016}}</ref> He was elected a member of [[Jatiya Sangsad]] from the [[Sylhet-1]] constituency at the [[2018 Bangladeshi general election|2018 general elections]].<ref name="Prothomalo">{{Cite news |url=https://election.prothomalo.com/candidates/3974 |script-title=bn:এ কে আবদুল মোমেন |work=Prothom Alo |language=bn |access-date=2019-01-08}}</ref> Following his election, he was appointed the [[Minister of Foreign Affairs (Bangladesh)|minister of foreign affairs]] by the Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.thedailystar.net/politics/new-cabinet-members-of-bangladesh-government-formed-monday-1683733 |title=47-member new cabinet announced |date=2019-01-06 |work=The Daily Star |language=en |access-date=2019-01-08}}</ref>

==Background and education==
Abdul Momen was born on 23 August 1947, to a [[Bengali Muslim]] political family in [[Sylhet]]. His father was [[Abu Ahmad Abdul Hafiz]], a lawyer, who was one of the founders of the Sylhet branch of the [[All-India Muslim League]] and took part in the [[Pakistan Movement]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://sylhetsadar.sylhet.gov.bd/site/page/5a02709b-0757-11e7-a6c5-286ed488c766/%E0%A6%AA%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%B0%E0%A6%96%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%AF%E0%A6%BE%E0%A6%A4%20%E0%A6%AC%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%AF%E0%A6%95%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%A4%E0%A6%BF%E0%A6%A4%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%AC |script-title=bn:সংরক্ষণাগারভুক্ত অনুলিপি |language=bn |access-date=31 December 2018 |work=Sylhet Sadar Upazila |archive-date=16 June 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180616030203/http://sylhetsadar.sylhet.gov.bd/site/page/5a02709b-0757-11e7-a6c5-286ed488c766/%E0%A6%AA%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%B0%E0%A6%96%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%AF%E0%A6%BE%E0%A6%A4%20%E0%A6%AC%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%AF%E0%A6%95%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%A4%E0%A6%BF%E0%A6%A4%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%AC}}</ref> His mother, [[Syeda Shahar Banu]], was one of the leading women of the [[Bengali language movement]]. He was one of fourteen children. His elder brother was [[Abul Maal Abdul Muhith|AM Abdul Muhith]], a former [[Minister of Finance (Bangladesh)|minister of finance]], and his sister is [[Shahla Khatun]], a physician and [[National Professor]] of Bangladesh.<ref name=prothomalo>{{cite news |url=http://www.prothomalo.com/bangladesh/article/1066685/'জীবনটা-নিয়ে-আমি-সন্তুষ্ট' |script-title=bn:জীবনটা নিয়ে আমি সন্তুষ্ট |work=Prothom Alo |language=bn |date=25 January 2017}}</ref>

Abdul Momen passed the matriculation exam from [[Sylhet Government Pilot High School]]. He attended the [[University of Dhaka]] and earned a BA in economics in 1969, and an MA in development economics in 1971.<ref name="diplomat">{{cite magazine |title=His Excellency Abulkalam Abdul Momen |url=http://www.washdiplomat.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2633:his-excellency-abulkalam-abdul-momen&catid=196:profiles&Itemid=229 |magazine=The Diplomat |access-date=31 August 2016}}</ref>

==Career==
[[File:Außenminister Alexander Schallenberg beim Antalya Diplomacy Forum, 11-13.03.2022. 06.jpg|thumb|left|Abdul Momen with [[Alexander Schallenberg]] at the [[Antalya Diplomacy Forum]] in 2022]]
Abdul Momen became a civil servant, serving as private secretary to the [[Ministry of Local Government, Rural Development and Co-operatives|minister of rural development, local government and cooperatives]] from 1973 to 1974; private secretary to the minister of trade and commerce, and mineral resources and petroleum from 1974 to 1975; section officer, South Asia, East Asia and Middle East, [[Ministry of Commerce (Bangladesh)|Ministry of Commerce]] from 1975 to 1976; and director, Office of the President's Advisor on Trade and Commerce from 1976 to 1978. Meanwhile, he completed an LLB in law and jurisprudence from Central College, Dhaka, in 1976.<ref name="diplomat" />

Abdul Momen continued his education in the United States, receiving a MPA from [[Harvard Kennedy School]] and a PhD in economics from [[Northeastern University]], Boston, Massachusetts, in 1988.<ref name="diplomat" /> He taught economics and business administration at [[Merrimack College]], [[Salem State College]], Northeastern University, the [[University of Massachusetts]], [[Kennedy School of Government]] at [[Harvard University]]<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.un.int/bangladesh/fr/staff/dr-ak-abdul-momen |title=Dr. A.K. Abdul Momen |website=Permanent Mission of the People's Republic of Bangladesh to the United Nations |access-date=2016-09-01 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160915085249/https://www.un.int/bangladesh/fr/staff/dr-ak-abdul-momen |archive-date=2016-09-15 |url-status=dead}}</ref> and the [[American International University-Bangladesh]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=AIUB OFFICIALS PAID A COURTESY VISIT TO THE MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS |url=https://www.aiub.edu/aiub-officials-paid-a-courtesy-visit-to-the-minister-of-foreign-affairs|access-date=2025-04-18 |website=www.aiub.edu |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250418190906/https://www.aiub.edu/aiub-officials-paid-a-courtesy-visit-to-the-minister-of-foreign-affairs |archive-date=18 April 2025 |language=en-US}}</ref>

In 1998, Abdul Momen became an economic adviser at the [[The Saudi Industrial Development Fund (SIDF)|Saudi Industrial Development Fund]] (SIDF). He left Saudi Arabia in the wake of the 2003 [[Riyadh compound bombings]], and returned to Massachusetts. There he taught in the Department of Economics and Business Administration at [[Framingham State College]] until appointed Bangladesh's permanent representative to the United Nations in New York in August 2009.<ref name="diplomat" />

Abdul Momen served as president of the [[UNICEF]] executive board at the international level in 2010.<ref>[http://www.unicef.org/about/execboard/files/Executive_Board-Officers-2014-ENGLISH-10Jan2014.pdf Officers of the UNICEF Executive Board 1946–2014], [[UNICEF]]</ref><ref>[http://www.unicef.org/about/history/index_55642.html Executive Board] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201007173214/https://www.unicef.org/about/history/index_55642.html |date=2020-10-07 }}, [[UNICEF]]</ref> He was vice president and acting president of the [[Sixty-seventh session of the United Nations General Assembly|67th]] [[United Nations General Assembly]].<ref name="undp" /> He was the president of the United Nations High-Level Committee on South-South Cooperation in 2014.<ref name="undp">{{cite web |url=http://ssc.undp.org/content/ssc/services/policy/governing_bodies/the_hlc_bureau/abulkalam_abdul_momen.html |title=H.E. Abulkalam Abdul Momen |publisher=United Nations Office for South-South Cooperation |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160927201121/http://ssc.undp.org/content/ssc/services/policy/governing_bodies/the_hlc_bureau/abulkalam_abdul_momen.html |archive-date=27 September 2016}}</ref>

Abdul Momen's elder brother, Bangladesh's Minister of Finance [[Abul Maal Abdul Muhith]], hoped that Abdul Momen would succeed him as a member of the parliament representing the [[Sylhet-1]] constituency in the 2018 general election, which he eventually won.<ref>{{cite news |title=Muhith wants brother Momen to contest for his Sylhet constituency |url=https://bdnews24.com/politics/muhith-wants-brother-momen-to-contest-for-his-sylhet-constituency |newspaper=bdnews24.com |date=5 June 2016}}</ref><ref name="Prothomalo" />

Yahoo news<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://uk.news.yahoo.com/bangladesh-under-no-obligation-accept-150754083.html |title=Bangladesh under no obligation to accept Rohingya refugees stranded at sea, minister says |work=Yahoo News}}</ref> reported that Abdul Momen said in February 2020 that Bangladesh had "no obligation" to provide shelter to [[Rohingya people|Rohingya]] refugees who were stranded in the Andaman Sea on a ship. He asked the UNHCR to take the responsibility.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Exclusive: Bangladesh under 'no obligation' to accept stranded Rohingya refugees - minister |language=en |work=Reuters |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-bangladesh-rohingya-un-idAFKBN2AR08S |access-date=2021-03-10}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=2021-02-27 |title=Bangladesh under 'no obligation' to accept stranded Rohingya refugees |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/bangladesh-rohingya-refugees-stranded-india-b1808441.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210227151336/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/bangladesh-rohingya-refugees-stranded-india-b1808441.html |archive-date=2021-02-27 |url-access=limited |url-status=live |access-date=2021-03-10 |work=The Independent |language=en}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
* {{cite news |last=Smith |first=James F. |title=Framingham State professor headed to UN |url=http://archive.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2009/07/28/bangladesh_names_framingham_state_professor_momen_ambassador_to_un/?page=full |newspaper=Boston Globe |date=28 July 2009}}
* {{cite news |title=Dhaka's permanent UN envoy slates staff recall, calls for a rethink on service rules |url=http://bdnews24.com/bangladesh/2015/01/02/dhakas-permanent-un-envoy-slates-staff-recall-calls-for-a-rethink-on-service-rules |newspaper=bdnews24.com |date=2 January 2015}}

==External links==
* {{commons category-inline}}
{{Chairmen and Presidents of UNICEF}}

{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Abdul Momen, Abulkalam}}
[[Category:1947 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:University of Dhaka alumni]]
[[Category:Northeastern University alumni]]
[[Category:Harvard Kennedy School alumni]]
[[Category:Harvard Kennedy School faculty]]
[[Category:Framingham State University faculty]]
[[Category:Permanent representatives of Bangladesh to the United Nations]]
[[Category:Chairmen and presidents of UNICEF]]
[[Category:Bangladeshi officials of the United Nations]]
[[Category:11th Jatiya Sangsad members]]
[[Category:Ministers of foreign affairs of Bangladesh]]
[[Category:12th Jatiya Sangsad members]]
[[Category:Academic staff of the American International University-Bangladesh]]
[[Category:Politicians from Sylhet]]
[[Category:Sylhet Government Pilot High School alumni]]

AK Abdul Momen - Revision history

MarlonBernhardt at 23:49, 23 February 2026