UN nominates Bangladesh’s Rabab Fatima as special representative for Afghanistan

Bangladeshi diplomat Rabab Fatima has been nominated by United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres to serve as his special representative for Afghanistan, with the appointment now awaiting the approval of the UN Security Council, Ariana News reports.

The nomination has been submitted to the 15-member Security Council, which is expected to decide whether to endorse her appointment, the largest independent news network in Afghanistan said.

If confirmed, Fatima will succeed Roza Otunbayeva, whose tenure as the UN's top envoy to Afghanistan ended in September last year.

A veteran diplomat from the 8th BCS cadre, Fatima has been the highest-ranking Bangladeshi official in UN history, serving as under-secretary-general.

Since 2022, she is the UN under-secretary-general and high representative for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States.

Her distinguished diplomatic career includes serving as Bangladesh's ambassador to Japan and permanent representative to the United Nations in New York.

She also spent years with the International Organization for Migration (IOM), rising through the organisation on lien to become a regional director, and held senior positions at the Commonwealth Secretariat focusing on migration, human rights and international development.

The United Nations has yet to make an official announcement on the nomination.