Sheikh Mohammed Belal
Amb. Sheikh Mohammed Belal, a national of Bangladesh, was elected as Managing Director of the Common Fund for Commodities (CFC), an UN affiliated intergovernmental financial organisation, on 04 December 2019.
Prior to this appointment, Amb. Belal served as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Bangladesh to the Netherlands with concurrent accreditations to Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia from March 2014 to February 2020.
Amb. Belal joined the Bangladesh Foreign Service in 1991, serving as Director General, East Asia and the Pacific at the Bangladesh Ministry of Foreign Affairs (2012-2014) and as Director, South East Asia/South Asia at the Foreign Minister’s Office (1991-1996). His career also included deployments abroad, lately as Minister/Deputy of Mission Embassy of Bangladesh in Washington (2005-2010) and at the Embassy of Bangladesh in Uzbekistan (2020/2011). Previous appointments included the post of First Secretary/Counsellor at the Embassy of Bangladesh in Kuala Lumpur (2000-2003) and as Second/First Secretary at the Embassy of Bangladesh in Canberra (1996-2000).
During his diplomatic career, Amb. Belal held a multitude of positions and professional engagements including:
- Member, Board of Directors for the Trust Fund for Victims (TFV), International Criminal Court (ICC), The Hague for the term 2018-to date.
- Chairperson of the Executive Council of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) for the period from 12 May 2017 to 11 May 2018. As Chairperson, he conducted the recruitment process of the Director General of the OPCW.
- Chairperson of the Committee of the Whole of the OPCW from November 2014 to November 2015.
- Chairperson of the Credential Committee of the Conference of States Parties of the OPCW from November 2015 to November 2016.
- Vice-Chairperson of the Conference of States Parties of the OPCW for the period from November 2016 to November 2017.
- Vice-Chairperson of the Governing Council of the Common Fund for Commodities for the Asian and Pacific Region for 2017.
- Facilitator for Victims for the Hague Working Group of ICC for 2015-2016.
- Successfully negotiated re-opening of Bangladesh Embassy in Poland in 2015.
He holds a Master's degree in Public Administration from Harvard University, USA, and a Master of Arts in Foreign Affairs and Trade from Monash University, AustraliaHe. also has a bachelor’s degree in Forestry from Chittagong University,, Bangladesh.
He is married and has two children and a grandchild.