Native name হালিনা বেগম Name Halima Begum Ethnicity Bengali | Nationality British Residence East London, England Role Civil servant | |
Born 18 October 1975 (age 48) ( 1975-10-18 ) Education MSc International Relations, BSc Government and History,
PhD Human Geography Occupation Civil servant, international development manager Alma mater London School of Economics and Political Science, Queen Mary University of London | ||
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Halima Begum (Bengali: হালিনা বেগম; born 18 October 1975) is a British civil servant, international development professional and Director Education of East Asia at the British Council. She was previously first secretary for development at the Department for International Development (DIFD).
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Early life
In 1996, Begum graduated with a MSc in International Relations (with distinction) and a BSc in Government and History at the London School of Economics. In 2004, she completed a PhD in Human Geography at Queen Mary University of London.
Career
From 2003 to 2012, Begum worked for the Department for International Development (DFID). Begum worked in a diplomatic role overseas for the British government based in various offices in Asia. She led the UK's bilateral education aid assistance in Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal, and worked on public diplomacy in DFID China, and tracking China's growing role in Africa and South-South co-operation.
For her in-country DFID posts, Begum worked on programmes, covering a £50 million education sector programme in Nepal, £200 million programme in Bangladesh, oversaw UK government's bilateral education assistance to Pakistan, rising to £650 million. In Pakistan she worked with Sir Michael Barber and McKinsey Global Education to develop an private-public, low-cost education model in Karachi, piloting a model of catalytic support in mega cities. Early on in her DFID career, at headquarters in London, she helped design, with the World Bank, Asian Development Bank and European Commission, among others, the funding instruments, governance and management of the Global Partnership on Education.
Begum has also worked at the Centre for Civil Society, a think-tank at the London School of Economics, and at ActionAid in London, where she helped launch the Global Campaign for Education, a civil-society movement working to end the global education crisis. She has presented at numerous international conferences and high-level meetings, including annual Global Education Partnership global governance meetings 2003-07, UNESCO EFA High-Level Group Meetings in Cairo in 2006, the China-ASEAN Forum on Social Development and Poverty Reduction, and the ASEAN+3 High-Level Seminar on Poverty Reduction.
In August 2012, Begum joined the British Council. She is responsible for shaping British Council strategies for education in 14 countries in East Asia. Her particular focus is business partnerships and collaborations, adding value to the Council's bilateral, trilateral and multilateral activities. She produces the Global Education Dialogue, Asia Series, six high-level dialogues aimed at accelerating education reform and catalysing opportunities in East Asia. She has also shaped the new British government's UK-ASEAN Knowledge Partnership.