Ambassador Zamir Akram

In 2015, Ambassador Akram was elected as Chair-Rapporteur of the Human Rights Council Working Group on the Right to Development.

The task of the Chair-Rapporteur includes chairing of the annual session, formal and informal consultation with political and regional groups, Member States, UN agencies, non-governmental and civil society organizations in relation to the work of the Group, presenting the report of the Group to the General Assembly and Human Rights Council, undertake activities in-between the annual session as requested by the Group. For example, at the request of the Group, the Chair-Rapporteur elaborated and submitted to the Group a draft convention on the right to development – a process which was supported by international experts organized by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.

As Pakistan’s Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the UN and other International Organizations in Geneva from 2008 till 2015, Zamir Akram has played a leading role in areas such as Disarmament, Human Rights, Refugees, Humanitarian Affairs, Trade and Development, Intellectual Property, Labour and Health among others. He was instrumental in promoting consensus on contentious resolutions regarding religious intolerance, freedom of religion and freedom of expression.

Ambassador Akram joined the Pakistan Foreign Service in 1978 and served in several vital posts including the (former) Soviet Union, India, the United States (twice) and the United Nations (twice). He has dealt with key issues including Afghanistan, Nuclear nonproliferation, arms controls and disarmament, disaster response and recovery, UN reforms, human rights and counterterrorism in his career.