Saber Hossain Chowdhury

From Infogalactic: the planetary knowledge core
Jump to: navigation, search

Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

He has over a period of eighteen years of public service accumulated considerable experience, insights and understanding of political party organizations, ministerial and parliamentary roles and responsibilities, championed causes and continues to provide leadership to local, national and international initiatives. Last but not least, he has been actively engaging in and constructively contributing to IPU’s work.

A firm believer in and defender of basic liberties, human rights and individual freedom and a staunch advocate for the rule of law, he was persecuted and subjected to repeated terms of detention and imprisonment for his political views (in 2002 and 2003).....

Amnesty International recognized him as a “Prisoner of Conscience” and launched a series of global “Urgent Actions” campaigning for his release and he was eventually set free on directives of the highest courts.

Following is a summary of some of Hon. Chowdhury’s experience and engagement in various fields:

1. Parliamentary Role: He has been an active Parliamentarian both within the House as well engagement in constituency relations and has pioneered community initiatives relating to health care, tobacco control, youth empowerment, self-employment schemes, urban micro credit for women, legal aid etc.

Hon. Chowdhury has been prominent in enacting ground-breaking legislation through Private Member Bills relating to Repeal of Leper’s Act (doing away with segregation and facilitating treatment and integration of Lepers into the society) and criminalizing custodial torture. Bangladeshs Landmark Law Banning Torture(http://livewire.amnesty.org/2013/11/04/bangladeshs-landmark-law-banning-torture/)

Himself a victim of horrors of custodial violence when in Opposition, as a MP from the governing Party subsequently, he enacted legislation - Torture and Custodial Death (Prohibition) Act, 2013 - to change the system and ensure that perpetrators of such violence (law enforcement agencies) would be held accountable by putting an end to the prevailing culture of impunity.

He has successfully initiated and promoted incorporation of a provision in the Constitution of Bangladesh (Art. 18A) relating to protection of environment and bio-diversity for current and future generations. He has also played a prominent advocacy and legislative role in enactment of Bangladesh’s law on domestic violence in 2011.

His ability to reach out and foster bi-partisan positions and consensus is best exemplified in the workings of Bangladesh Parliaments’ All Party Group on Climate Change & Environment and his success in engaging constructively with the Executive on various issues merits particular mention.

A passionate believer in and advocate for cooperation between Parliaments as well as Parliamentarians acting as links and bridges between various stake-holders in society, his work and engagement over the past five years has taken him to Africa, Asia-Pacific, Europe and the Americas.

• He co-authored a joint parliamentary Inquiry of Bangladesh and UK Parliaments - a world first in inter parliamentary cooperation and networking - on Climate Change Equity that was released in December 2009 during COP 15 in Copenhagen, Denmark.

• He has been actively involved in initiatives of Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) and has acted as resource person for the CPA in Zanzibar, Tanzania in May 2011 in orientation and capacity building of Parliamentarians from Africa and SIDS on Climate Change challenges.

• In November 2012 Hon. Chowdhury, at invitation of UNDP shared his experience and expertise with National Assembly of Vietnam in Hanoi on legislation for Disaster Risk Reduction.

• As Chair of Asian Advisory Group of Parliamentarians on DRR, he has interacted with Parliamentarians in Seoul (South Korea) in 2012 and Vientiane (Lao PDR) in 2014 and led a process of parliamentary consultations on a new framework after 2015 for the Hyogo Framework of Action.

• As Co-President of Parliamentarians for Nuclear Non Proliferation and Disarmament (PNND), he has been championing cause of international peace and has made the link between resources dedicated to nuclear weapons being freed up and made available for development purposes.

• He has participated and led discussions on a nuclear weapons free world with Parliamentarians from PNND’s worldwide network and has taken part in the Open Ended Working Group (OEWG) on Nuclear Disarmament in UN Geneva in July 2013. Leading institutions have invited Hon. Chowdhury as a resource person and policy maker to share his experience and expertise to enrich their research and work on development and related issues and a few examples and instances in this regard are sighted below.

• Supported by Australia Agency for International Development (AusAID), Monash University’s Sustainability Institute hosted a two-day workshop in Dhaka in April 2011 bringing together policy makers and researchers from Australia, India and Bangladesh looking at climate change and its effect on the Ganges River Basin. Hon. Chowdhury was a leading participant in this event.

• In November 2011, Hon. Chowdhury at the invitation of Gilbert + Tobin School of Law, University of New South Wales, spoke at NSW Parliament House in Sydney on climate change and migration / displacement with dignity to an Australian audience with a particular focus on impacts of climate change in the Pacific region.

• In April 2012, Hon. Chowdhury was in New York, at invitation of the Earth Institute, University of Columbia, to speak on significance of building climate and disaster resilience in coastal cities and share his knowledge and experience in the issue and how these could influence public and policy understanding on sustainable development, particularly in the urban context.

• In July 2013, he was in Honolulu, Hawaii at invitation of the Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies to attend a dialogue on Security Sector Development: National Priorities and Regional Approaches.

2. Political Party Organization: He served from 2001 to 2008 as Organizing Secretary of Bangladesh Awami League (AL), a party established 62 years ago and one which led Bangladesh’s Independence Movement under its Founding Father Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. After its defeat in the flawed parliamentary elections of 2001, he reorganized and reenergized the Party at grass root level and at the same time was an important figure in the popular movement to bring about reforms and changes in the electoral process to make elections fair, transparent and equitable.

In the December 2008 elections, AL secured all 90 parliamentary seats for which Mr. Chowdhury had organizational responsibility. During this seven-year period, he also served as Political Secretary to President of AL, Hon. Sheikh Hasina who was then Leader of the Opposition and is now the Prime Minister of Bangladesh.

3. Ministerial / Executive Positions: During 1999–2001, as the youngest Member of the Cabinet, he successfully served as Deputy Minister, Ministry of Ports & Shipping and thereafter as the Deputy Minister for Local Government, Rural Development & Cooperatives – one of Bangladesh’s largest development Ministries. He is widely regarded to have infused dynamism in Ministry work and helped set new bench-marks and standards in transparency and accountability.

4. Sports Administration (National & International): As President of Bangladesh Cricket Board (1996 – 2001), his vision and leadership was instrumental in Bangladesh’s elevation to Full Member (Test) Status of the International Cricket Council.

In 2001, Bangladesh Cricket Board, under his Presidency was recognized and decorated with the country’s highest national award – Independence Day Award – and in 2002; Mr. Chowdhury was conferred, for his services to world cricket, Honorary Life Membership of Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), London, England. He has also served as Director of International Cricket Council from 1997 to 2001.

In a country that is politically much polarized, Mr. Chowdhury prompted and established cricket and the successes of the Bangladesh Cricket Team as a platform of national unity, inspiring particularly the youth in believing in the beauty of their dreams.

5. Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU): Hon. Chowdhury served initially as Senior Vice President for a year and thereafter as President, First Standing Committee for four years from 2010 to 2014 as a representative from the Asia-Pacific Geo-Political Group. He is currently a Member of the IPU Standing Committee on UN Affairs.

Since 2009, he has attended all the IPU Assemblies and has actively engaged in and contributed to IPU’s work - in plenary, standing committees and side events - relating to Nuclear Non-proliferation & Disarmament, MDGs, climate change, disaster risk reduction, sustainable development, empowerment of Least Developed Countries, maternal and child health.

He has attended Annual Parliamentary Hearings at the UN and has been regularly invited (in 2012, 2013 and 2014) by UN DESA and ECOSOC as a Panelist and also as a Moderator in various High Level and Ministerial Dialogues at the UN as well as DCF events in New York and Brisbane.

He has been a Co-Reporter for IPU’s Second Standing Committee during its 130th Assembly in Geneva in March 2014 on the agenda item: “Towards Risk Resilient Development: Taking into consideration demographic trends and natural constraints”. During his two term tenure as President of IPU’s First Standing Committee on Peace and International Security, Resolutions on following important agenda items were extensively discussed, passionately debated and finally adopted in the respective Assemblies per below:

• “Providing a sound legislative framework aimed at preventing electoral violence, improving election monitoring and ensuring the smooth transition of power” – 124th Assembly, Panama City

• “Promoting and practicing good governance as a means of advancing peace and security : Drawing lessons from recent events in Middle East and North Africa” – 126th Assembly, Kampala

• “Enforcing the responsibility to protect : The role of Parliament in safeguarding civilians lives” - 128 Assembly, Quito City

• “Towards a nuclear weapons free world : The Contribution of Parliaments” – 130th Assembly, Geneva

Hon. Chowdhury also Chaired all sessions of the First Standing Committee during IPU’s 125th Assembly in Bern, its 127th Assembly in Quebec City and its 129th Assembly in Geneva.

As part of IPU Delegation that included Hon. Rebecca Kadaga, Speaker of Parliament of Uganda and Mr. Anders Johnsson, the then Secretary General of IPU, he interacted in Monrovia, Liberia with UN SG’s High-Level Panel of Eminent Persons on the post 2015 development agenda, articulating and advocating for incorporation of democratic governance as a goal in itself.

He has been a focal point for LDCs in Bangladesh Parliament and contributed to the parliamentary track (within Bangladesh Parliament and also internationally) on Istanbul Program of Action as adopted during the Fourth UN Conference on LDCs. 6. Current Positions

Currently he holds the following posts and responsibilities within Bangladesh and internationally:

o Chairman, Parliamentary Standing Committee on Ministry of Textiles & Jute, Bangladesh Parliament

o Member, Petition’s Committee, Bangladesh Parliament

o Member, Standing Committee. Ministry of Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives, Bangladesh Parliament

o Chair, All Party Parliamentary Group on Climate Change and Environment, Bangladesh Parliament

o President, Globe International (Bangladesh Chapter)

o Co-President, Parliamentarians for Nuclear Non-proliferation & Disarmament (PNND)

o Global Champion, United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR), Geneva, Switzerland

o Chair, Parliamentary Advisory Group to UN Secretary General’s Special Representative on Disaster Risk Reduction

o Elected as IPU President

Former “prisoner of conscience” elected as new IPU president

- Bangladesh MP and former Amnesty International “prisoner of conscience” Saber Chowdhury was today elected as the new President of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU).

- He defeated three other candidates – Speaker of Australia’s House of Representatives Bronwyn Bishop, Indonesian MP Nurhayati Ali Assegaf and former Speaker of the Maldives Parliament Abdulla Shahid - in an election on the concluding day of the 131st IPU Assembly. He becomes the 28th president of the Organization in its 125-year history.

- President Chowdhury is the third IPU president from South Asia after Najma Heptulla (1999-2002) and Gurdial Singh Dhillon (1973-1976).

- He takes over from former Moroccan Speaker of Parliament Abdelwahad Radi, who ends his three-year mandate today.

- A former businessman with an education in law, politics and economics in the UK, President Chowdhury first became an MP in 1996 at the age of 35. He was also the youngest member of the government when he held two deputy ministerial posts in succession between 1999 and 2001.

- A political prisoner in the early 2000s, he is a firm believer in the rule of law and human rights. He was involved in ground-breaking legislation to criminalize custodial torture in Bangladesh and to address domestic violence.

- An active national politician who has also pioneered community initiatives on a range of social and economic issues targeting women and youth in particular, President Chowdhury has similarly been active on the international stage for a number of years.

- Climate change, disaster-risk reduction, sustainable development and nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament have been the focus of much of his international political work. Within IPU and as a former president of IPU’s Committee on Peace and International Security, he has played an important role on issues relating to a key objective of the Organization.

- “Politics and public service is about helping people to solve their problems, to live their dreams. My belief is to always improve upon what you find and leave a better, more peaceful world. I will be an active president, accessible and leading from the front,” he said.

References

Asian Human Rights Commission

Bangladesh’s landmark law banning torture

Mr. Saber H. Chowdhury, MP of Bangladesh

Inter-Parliamentary Union- Press Release

External links

Official website