Dr. Kamal Abdul Naser Chowdhury

Professional summary

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A career bureaucrat with 34 years of experience in the Civil Service of Bangladesh and formerly served as the Principal Secretary to the Honorable Prime Minister of Bangladesh having diverse creative skills and extensive background in administration, development and social research. Formerly, he served in the position of Secretary to four different ministries/offices and represented Bangladesh in several international platforms including UNESCO Executive Board. He is also an anthropologist and an eminent cultural figure in Bangladesh. Under the pen-name of ‘Kamal Chowdhury’ he has published 21 books until this date. He has been awarded Bangla Academy Award for Literature (Poetry) in 2011 for his contribution to Bengali literature.

Skills
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• Strong interpersonal skills with innovative knowledge                                                                 *  Strategic thinker

• Employee recruitment, relations and negotiations                                                                       * Fluent in Bengali and English
• Excellent organizational, listening, planning, and public speaking skills

 

Education

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PhD (Anthropology)                                                                                                     2006

University of Dhaka- Dhaka, Bangladesh

Masters of Social Science (Sociology)                                                                      1979

University of Dhaka- Dhaka, Bangladesh                                                               

Bachelor of Social Science (Sociology)                                                                    1978

University of Dhaka- Dhaka, Bangladesh

 

Current Work

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• Chief Editor of Ethno-linguistic Survey of Bangladesh, a study conducted by International Mother Language institute, Ministry of Education  of Bangladesh
• Chief Editor of District Gazetteers of Bangladesh to be published by The Statistics and Informatics Division, Ministry of Planning of Bangladesh

 

Work History

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Principal Secretary                                                        1 December 2016- 30 December 2017

Prime Minister's Office (PMO)

Government of the People's Republic of Bangladesh

• Provided all kinds of secretarial assistances to the Prime Minister as Principal Secretary
• Coordinated different ministries and supervised subordinate offices and organizations under PMO
• Managed and supervised office administration and work including financial matters of PMO
• Maintained liaison with International Agencies
• Dealt with  matters relating to state visits/foreign visits of Prime Minister, treaties and agreements with other countries and world bodies

 

Secretary & Senior Secretary                                     13 February 2014 - 30 November 2016

Ministry of Public Administration, Dhaka

• Served as the administrative head of the Ministry
• Conducted all matters related to Bangladesh Civil Service (recruitment, training, promotion retirement etc.) and all mater allocated to the Ministry
• Involved in policy formulation on regulation of civil services and determination of their terms and conditions
• Initiated and monitored the Management and Development related issues of the civil servants of Bangladesh
• Pioneered the capacity development program for the civil servants in collaboration with the international institutions such as Harvard Kennedy School(HKS), Duke Center for International Development(DCID), and others

 

Secretary                                                                         21 October 2010 to 12 February 2014

Ministry of Education, Dhaka

• Served as the administrative head of the Ministry
• Administered the issues related to the Secondary, Higher Secondary, Technical & Vocational Education and Higher Education of the country
• Formulated plan on Secondary, Higher Secondary and Higher Education sectors
• Engaged in the preparation, monitoring and evaluation of education related programs and projects
• Led the process of education policy implementation, reform, teacher recruitment etc.
• Fostered the initiatives related to access and quality education including drafting and piloting of Accreditation Council Act, National Skill Development policy,  newly established public university acts  etc.
• Headed  educational  institutions of different level as Chairman and Board of Governors, and syndicate members of different public universities 

 

Secretary                                                                               30 June 2009 to 20 October, 2010

Ministry of Information, Dhaka

• Served as the administrative head of the Ministry
• Dealt with matters related to the administration and development of electronic and print media of Bangladesh and  initiated the activities of Community Radio
• Coordinated the publicity activities of the different Ministries/Divisions and Bangladesh Missions abroad
• Supervised the administration of Radio and Television and all other matters relating to broadcasting through Bangladesh Betar ( Radio) & Bangladesh Television
• Promoted the activities for the development of Films in Bangladesh including Bangladesh Film Development Corporation

 

Publications

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Books

• Transformation and Change in the Garo Community of Bangladesh: A Study of Residence, Gender and Power in Mandigaon.( forthcoming) ,Tilde Publishing of Australia
• Bangladeh Bhabhan at Shantiniketan (Forthcoming --a book on recently established Bangladesh Center at Visva-Bharati University- forthcoming), Pathak Samabesh, Dhaka
• Selected Poems(2015), Translated by Professor Kabir Chowdhury, Bangla Academy, Dhaka

Besides published 20 books on poetry including English translations and edited one   anthology of poetry.  

 

Awards & Honours

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• Bangla Academy Award for Literature (Poetry), 2011 (The highest prize in Literature in Bangladesh)
• Shouharda Sammanona (Honour for Friendship), 2003, awarded by the Shouharda’70s, a poetic society representing the poets of the seventies in Kolkata, West Bengal, India
• All India Bangla Poetry Festival Honours, 2003 at Haldia, West Bengal , India

Received also number of awards at home and abroad as a part of contribution to literature and social activities.

 

Papers/articles

•  ‘Status of the Wangala Festival in Garo Society of Bangladesh’, published in the Journal of Asiatic Society of Bangladesh, Humanities, Vol.47, Number 1, June 2002 
• ‘Transition of Garo Society from Matrilineality to Patrilineality: Some Observations from the Village Baruamari’, published in Anthropology on the Move: Contextualizing Culture Studies in Bangladesh, a publication of the Department of Anthropology, University of Dhaka, January 2006
• ‘Global Warming and Climate Change: Challenges Ahead for Bangladesh’, published in The Daily Star, 6 June 2001
• ‘Significance of International Mother Language Day, published by Bhasa & Bhasa Prosango, a publication of International Mother Language Institute, Dhaka, Bangladesh, September, 2012
• ‘Shikkha & Srijanshilota (Education & Creativity), published in the BijoyeSrijone, Utsobe, a Victory Day publication of Ministry of Education, Dhaka, Bangladesh December, 2012
• ‘Bangladesher Nri-Bhasha Boigganic Somikkha’ (Ethno-Linguistic Survey in Bangladesh), published in Daily Prothom Alo, Dhaka, 21 February, 2013
• ‘সরকারি কাজে উদ্ভাবন: আমাদের করণীয়’ (Innovation in the Government service: Our responsibilities), Published in the Souvenir of Public Administration Award 2016. Published by Ministry of Public Administration
• ‘Bangalir Bangabandhu’ (Booklet) a memorial lecture delivered at Bangla Academy on Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Father of The Nation of Bangladesh, published by Bangla Academy Dhaka August 12, 2018

 

Foreign trainings/Courses/Workshops

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• “Communication and Negotiations Skills for Environment Leaders Course” at the Smithsonian Institution Conservation and Research Center, Front Royal, Virginia,  September 20-25, 1999
• “Economic and Policy Solutions for Ecosystem Conservation Course” at The Smithsonian Institution Conservation and Research Center , Front Royal, Virginia,  September 19- October 22, 1999
•  “Program on Fiscal Decentralisation and Local Government Financial Management" at Duke Center for International Development (DCID), Duke University, July 1-20, 2007
• “3rd Commonwealth Executive Programme on Finance for Sub-national and Local Governments“, University of Birmingham, UK,  October 22-26, 2007
• “Managing at the Top-2 (MATT2) ”, Training Programme at Bangladesh Public Administration Training Centre (BPATC) and Singapore Civil Service College, May 13 to June 21, 2007
• “Workshop on Strengthening Disability Measurement across South Asian Countries”, Bangkok, Thailand, April 2-4, 2008
• “Workshop on Third World Congress against Sexual Exploitation of Children and Adolescents in Brazil”, November 25-28, 2008
• “ISESCO Regional Workshop on Teachers Capacity Building by Focusing on Quality Teaching for Increasing Understanding of Use in ICT” in Tehran, Iran, November 21-23, 2010
• “Strategic Choices for Education Reform” Global Education Course in World Bank Headquarters in Washington D.C., USA, March 14-25, 2011
• “Learning Assessment for Education Policy”, at ACER Melbourne office, Australia, 2013

 

International Conferences/Meetings

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• Asian Ministerial Conference on United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) held in Beijing, China, May 13- 15, 1997
• Third Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) held in Kyoto, Japan, 30 November - 11 December, 1997
• 6th Meeting of the Commonwealth Consultative Group on Environment held in the United Nations Headquarters in New York April 18- 21, 1999
• COP-5 of UNFCCC held in Bonn, Germany, October 25 - 5 November, 1999
• UNGC organized “Regional Forum on Reinventing Government in Asia” held in Jakarta, Indonesia, November 14-16, 2007
• Fifth World Water Forum in Istanbul, Turkey, March 16-23, 2009
• 27th Session of the Intergovernmental Council of International Programme for the Development of Communication (IPDC) in France, March 23-26, 2010
• 36th Session of the UNESCO General Conference, Paris, France, 2011
• World Congress 2012- World Federation of Colleges and Polytechnics, Canada, 2012
• Policy Advisory Technical Assistance to Develop an Implementation Strategy of the National Education Policy for Secondary Education Sector Project, Sri Lanka, 2012
• 6th Islamic Conference of Ministers of Higher Education and Scientific Research, organised by ISESCO, Khartoum, Sudan, 2012
• 33rd Session of the Executive Council of ISESCO, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia & the 11th session of the General Conference of ISESCO, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, 2012
• Fellowship programme under GOB-EC-ILO-TVET Reform Programme, Malaysia, 2013
• Study tour on observing the Use of IT in Education Sector, Republic of Korea and Thailand, 2013
• Study tour on Higher Education Quality Assurance & Accreditation HEIs/Performance of Higher Education Commission under Higher Education Quality Enhancement Project (HEQEP), UK and Thailand, 2013
• Head of Bangladesh delegation at 37^th Session of UNESCO General Conference, Paris, France, 7-13, November, 2013.
• Signing of Expression of Interest (EOI) for technical cooperation between Bangladesh and European Organisation for Nuclear Research (CERN), Geneva, Switzerland,    13-14 November, 2013
• UNESCO 194^th Executive Board meeting as Bangladesh representative from 5 April to 17 April, 2014
• Inaugurated training session for BCS Cadre officers at Greenwich University, England, June 2014
• Attended UNESCO 195^th Executive Board meeting as Bangladesh representative from 8 October to 31 October, 2014
• Lead a delegation to the Rome Business School, Rome, Italy, and 31 December 2014-06 January, 2015
• UNESCO 196^th Executive Board meeting as Bangladesh representative from 11 April to 19 April, 2015
• Visited USA to explore scope for mutual cooperation in the area of Civil Service training and research, August 2015
• UNESCO 197^th Executive Board meeting as Bangladesh representative from 10 October to 18 October, 2015
• Closing session of training on ‘Capacity Development of Bangladesh Public Servants for Infrastructure Management’ at Monash University, Australia and visited Victoria University, New Zealand to explore opportunities of professional trainings and higher education for the government officials of Bangladesh, December 2015
• Inaugural session of overseas exposure of the participants of the 74th Senior Staff Course of BPATC in Vietnam, February 2016
• UNESCO 199^th Executive Board meeting as Bangladesh representative and Chairman of the Conventions and Recommendations Committee of UNESCO Executive Board April 2-16, 2016
• Visited Novovoronezh Nuclear Power Plant, Russian Federation. Russia, May 2016.
• Signing a Memorandum of Understanding with Harvard Kennedy School, the USA, September 2016
• UNESCO 200^th Executive Board meeting as Bangladesh representative and Chairman of the Conventions and Recommendations Committee of UNESCO Executive Board , October 02 - 9 , 2016
• UNESCO 201^st Executive Board meeting as Bangladesh representative and Chairman of the Conventions and Recommendations Committee of UNESCO Executive Board.  April 18 - 26, 2017. Also visited Athens, Greece  April 22-23,2017 to have ideas about their administrative reforms
• Visited USA to observe MRP and MRV activities of Bangladesh Consulate General, May 2-9, 2017
• UNESCO 202^nd Executive board meeting as Bangladesh representative and Chairman of the conventions and Recommendations committee of UNESCO Executive Board from October 4- 12 , 2017
• International seminar on Bangla poetry organised by Rabindra Bharati University, Kolkata as Chief Guest March 15-16, 2017
• As a member of Bangladesh delegation attended the Inauguration of Bangladesh Bhaban  at Visva-Bharati University, Santiniketan, India on  May 25  and the program at Assansol Kazi Nazrul University, on May 26, 2018 where honourable Prime Minister has been conferred with Honorary DLit degree

 

As Prime Minister’s entourage attended

• Munich Security Conference, Germany, February 17-18, 2017
• Indian Ocean Rims Association's  leaders Summit at Jakarta, Indonesia March, 6-7, 2017
• India, state visit-7-10 April 2017
• Arab-Islamic-American Summit at Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, 20- 22  May
• International conference  on the Technical Cooperation programme: Sixty Years and Beyond: Contributing to Development, organised by International Atomic Energy Agency( IAEA), May 30-June 1, 2017
• United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), September 2017

 

Community Involvement

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• Fellow, Bangla Academy, Bangladesh
• Life Member, Asiatic Society of Bangladesh
• Founder Member, Bangladesh Writers' Club (Founder Joint Secretary)
• President, Dhaka University Sociology Alumni Association
• President, Dhaka University Fazlul Haque Hall Alumni Association
• Member, Board of Trustees, Kochi Kanchar Mela (a national children’s organization)

 

Professional Affiliations in the recent past

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• Representative of Bangladesh at the UNESCO Executive Board for the term 2014-2017
• Chairman of the Committee on Conventions and Recommendations of the UNESCO Executive Board for the period 2016-2017
• Chairman, Governing Board, Islamic University of Technology (IUT), a subsidiary organ of OIC, Gazipur, Bangladesh
• Chairman, National Curriculum Coordination Committee, Bangladesh
• Syndicate Member, Dhaka University, Bangladesh
• Syndicate Member, National University, Bangladesh
• Member, Board of Governors, Bangladesh Open University
• Chairman, Public Private partnership Authority(PPP), Prime Minister's Office
• Chairman, Bangladesh Export Processing Zone( BEPZA) Prime Minister's Office
• Chairman, Steering Committee, Asrayan Project, Prime Minister's office
• Chairman, Bangladesh Film Censor Board
• Chairman, Bangladesh Film Development Corporation
• President, Bangladesh Administrative Service Association
• Member, Executive Council, ISESCO
• Member, Board of Directors, Bangladesh Public Administration Training Centre (BPATC), Dhaka
• Co-Convenor,  Executive Committee of National Skill Development Council (ECNSDC)
• Chairman, Board of Directors, Razuk Uttara Model School, Dhaka
• Chairman, Board of Directors, Residential Model School and College Dhaka
• Chairman, Board of Directors, Mohammadpur Model School, Dhaka
• Chairman, Board of Directors, Lalbagh Model School, Dhaka
• Chairman, Board of Directors, Khulna Public School, Dhaka
• Member, Board of Directors, Bangladesh NGO Foundation
• Member, Central Organizing Committee, 150^th Birth Anniversary Celebration Committee of Poet Rabindranath Tagore
• Member, Board of Directors, Bangladesh Disabled Development Foundation
• Chairman, Project Steering Committee, Higher Education Quality Enhancement Project( HEQEP), Ministry of Education
• Chairman, Project Steering Committee, Secondary Education Quality and Access Enhancement Project (SEQAEP) , Ministry of Education
• Chairman, Project Steering Committee, Skill and Training Enhancement Project, Ministry of Education
• Chairman, Project Steering Committee, Secondary Education Sector Development  Project (SESDP), Ministry of Education
• Chairman, Project Steering Committee, Teaching Quality Improvement Project (TQI) Ministry of Education