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Published : 08 Jul 2026, 07:17 PM
The government has appointed internationally renowned human rights advocate Irene Khan as Bangladesh's permanent representative to the United Nations, granting her the rank of state minister.
The Cabinet Division issued a gazette notification on Wednesday confirming her contractual appointment.
According to the notification, Irene Khan will receive the rank, salary, allowances and other benefits of a state minister while serving as Bangladesh's permanent representative and ambassador to the UN.
She will succeed Salahuddin Noman Chowdhury, the current permanent representative to Bangladesh's UN Mission. Foreign ministry officials said Chowdhury is set to become the country's next foreign secretary.
Khan has served as the UN Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression since Aug 1, 2020, becoming the first woman to hold the mandate since it was established in 1993.
An internationally recognised advocate for human rights, gender equality and social justice, she also teaches at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Geneva.
She was secretary general of London-based Amnesty International from 2001 to 2009, becoming the first woman to lead the global human rights organisation. During her tenure, Amnesty expanded its work on economic, social and cultural rights alongside political and civil rights, and launched its first global campaign to end violence against women and girls.
From 2012 to 2019, Khan headed the International Development Law Organization (IDLO), an intergovernmental organisation dedicated to the rule of law and sustainable development.
She previously served as a visiting professor at the State University of New York Law School in 2011 and as chancellor of the University of Salford in the United Kingdom from 2009 to 2015.
Khan began her professional career with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), where she worked for 21 years in headquarters and field operations, including as chief of mission in India.
She has also served on the World Bank Gender Advisory Council, the UNAIDS High Level Panel on HIV Prevention and Human Rights, and the UN Global Compact Advisory Council. She has been a governing board member of the Overseas Development Institute in the UK, BRAC and Uganda-based Barefoot Law.
Between 2010 and 2011, she was consulting editor of The Daily Star, writing on human rights, democracy and gender issues while supporting independent media.
Born in Bangladesh, Khan studied at University of Manchester and Harvard Law School. She has received several international honours, including the Sydney Peace Prize, for her contribution to human rights.
