Moazzam Malik (diplomat)

Moazzam Malik CMG
British Ambassador to Indonesia
In office October 2014 – June 2019
Monarch	Elizabeth II
Prime Minister	David Cameron Theresa May
Preceded by	Mark Canning
Succeeded by	Owen Jenkins
Personal details
Born	Moazzam Tufail Malik North West London, London, England
Spouse(s)	Rachel Malik
Children	3
Alma mater	London School of Economics (BSc (Hons)) University of Oxford

Moazzam Tufail Malik CMG is a British civil servant and diplomat serving as Director-General Africa in the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (formed on 2 September 2020). His thematic responsibilities include conflict and stabilisation, good governance and human rights, economic development and the Commonwealth.

Malik was previously Director-General for Country Programmes at the UK Department for International Development (October 2019 to September 2020). He was the United Kingdom Ambassador to Indonesia, ASEAN and Timor-Leste from October 2014 to July 2019, succeeding Mark Canning.^[1] He learned Indonesian in London and Yogyakarta before taking up his assignment. He is the first Muslim British Ambassador to Indonesia.^[2]

Education[]

Malik has a BSc Honours in Economics from the London School of Economics. He holds a master's degree from Oxford University, and a Chartered Diploma in Accounting and Finance from the ACCA.^[3] He studied at Whitmore High School and Lowlands Sixth Form College in Harrow.

Career[]

Prior to joining the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) in 2014, Malik held a number of senior positions at the Department for International Development (DFID). In 2013, he was Acting Director General in DFID, overseeing the UK's development relationship with international organisations such as the UN, World Bank, Asian Development Bank and IMF, and managing the UK's engagement in the Western Asia and the Middle East. In the region,

From 2010 to 2013, he was DFID Director for Western Asia and Stabilisation leading a team of 300 people with a budget of US$750m working across Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Central Asia. Prior to that he was DFID Director for UN, Conflict and Humanitarian. He led work on the 2006 UK White Paper on international development, 'Making Governance Work for the Poor'[1]. From 2003, he was Principal Private Secretary to Baroness Valerie Amos and then Hilary Benn MP, Secretary of State for International Development. He was closely involved in major humanitarian operations throughout this period, including the response to the 2004 Aceh tsunami and 2008 Burma cyclone.^[4] He has also handled DFID engagement in Iraq and on trade policy.

Malik was a member of the UN Secretary General's Advisory Group on the Central Emergency Revolving Fund as well as OECD DAC Peer Reviewer for Sweden. He was a trustee of an NGO eradicating child labour, Goodweave UK, and a member of the Advisory Board to the UK All-Party Parliamentary Group on Conflict.

Earlier in his career, Malik has worked as a consultant economist for UK corporations^[which?] and the World Bank; managed an engineering business; advised on the monetary and foreign exchange policy in the Bank of Uganda; and led an urban regeneration NGO focused on international trade in London. He was also a researcher at the London School of Economics and the Overseas Development Institute.^[3]

On his appointment as ambassador to Indonesia, he expressed strong ambition for the UK partnership with a country that is "rapidly growing country at the heart of Asia's future".^[4] On leaving Jakarta, he wrote a "farewell letter" published in the Indonesian newspaper Kompas that was very widely read in print and online.^[5] The English language paper The Jakarta Post published an editorial praising his farewell message.^[6]

Malik was appointed Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George (CMG) in the 2019 Birthday Honours.^[7]

Personal life[]

Malik was born and grew up in North West London. His father, Mohammed Amin Malik, migrated to Britain in the late 1950s from Pakistan in search of a better life. Malik is married to Rachel Malik and has three children.^[3] He is a Liverpool F.C. fan, plays tennis, and follows the Pakistani cricket team.

References[]