CPD gets new executive director

The Centre for Policy Dialogue has appointed Dr Fahmida Khatun as its new executive director. Prior to the appointment, she had been serving the think-tank as research director, CPD said in a statement. The decision was taken at the 48th meeting of the Board of Trustees of CPD at its office yesterday.

Professor Mustafizur Rahman, the current executive director, will continue to work at CPD as a distinguished fellow, according to the statement.

Both the appointments will be effective from March 2017, it said.

The Board of Trustees thanked Rahman for his outstanding contribution to the CPD for three consecutive terms and expressed its satisfaction over CPD's overall performance in 2016 and approved CPD's annual accounts for 2016 and budget for 2017. The board also endorsed the annual plan for research, dialogues and publications of the organisation.

For the coming year, the board advised CPD to focus more on emerging and thematic issues of importance from the perspective of Bangladesh's future development, and more proactively engage the young generation, in carrying out its research and policy influencing activism.

Presided over by Professor Rehman Sobhan, chairman of CPD, the board meeting was attended by CPD trustees: M Syeduzzaman, former finance minister; Syed Manzur Elahi, chairman of Apex Group; Khushi Kabir, coordinator of Nijera Kori; Dr Debapriya Bhattacharya, distinguished fellow of CPD; and Mustafizur Rahman.