Shamshad Akhtar

Shamshad Akhtar
Executive Secretary of United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific
Incumbent
Assumed office 10 December 2013
Preceded by	Noeleen Heyzer
Assistant Secretary-General for Economic Development at the Department of Economic and Social Affairs
Governor of the State Bank of Pakistan
In office December 2, 2006 – January 1, 2009
Prime Minister	Yousaf Raza Gillani
Vice President of World Bank for Middle East and North Africa
In office July 6, 2009 – January 1, 2009
Prime Minister	Yousaf Raza Gillani
Personal details
Born	Hyderabad, Sindh, Pakistan
Alma mater	Harvard University University of the West of Scotland University of Sussex Quaid-i-Azam University

Dr. Shamshad Akhtar Detho (Urdu: ڈاکٹر شمشاد اختر) is a Pakistani Development economist, diplomat and intellectual who serves as the Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific, an office equivalent to the Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations. Prior to that, she served as the 14th Governor of the State Bank of Pakistan being the first woman to assume this position.^[1][2]

She initially worked at the World Bank’s Resident Mission in Pakistan for a decade before moving to the Asian Development Bank where she served as the Director General Southeast Asia Department. She was also appointed as the United Nations Assistant Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs and Senior Adviser on Economic Development and Finance to the UN Secretary General. Prior to that, in 2009-2011, she was Vice President at the World Bank overseeing Middle East and North African region. In addition, she serves as the United Nations Sherpa for the G20.^[3][4]

Early Life and Education

She was born in the city of Hyderabad, Sindh.^[5] She is a Sindhi and hails from the village of Haji Nathar Detho in Naushahro Feroze District.^[6] Akhtar had had her earlier education at Karachi and Islamabad. She graduated from the University of the Punjab with a B. A. Economics degree in 1974. She did her M.Sc. in economics from the Quaid-i-Azam University, an M.A. in Development Economics from the University of Sussex in 1977 and a Ph.D. in economics from the UK.’s Paisley College of Technology in 1980. She is the recipient of a Post Doctoral Fellowship from Harvard University on Fulbright Program.^[7]

References

External links

• Official website of State Bank of Pakistan
• Dr. Shamshad awarded “Best Central Bank Governor in Asia” prize
• Akhtar Named Pakistan's First Female Central Banker (Bloomberg)