Husna Parvin Ahmad, OBE (; born 28 June 1964) is a British humanitarian and writer. She is the CEO of Global One 2015, a women-led INGO. She is Secretary-General of the World Muslim Leadership Forum. She was the chief executive officer of the Faith Regen Foundation.
Early life
Dr. Husna Ahmad was born in Dhaka, East Pakistan (now Bangladesh), and moved to the United Kingdom at the age of four. She has a PhD in International Environmental Law from the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London.
Career
From June 2006 to March 2013, Dr. Husna Ahmad was CEO of Faith Regen Foundation. She was a member of Faith Regen Foundation's staff since its inception in October 2001 and has previously held the position of director of operations.
Dr. Husna Ahmad sat on the advisory board of the East London Mosque. She held the role of deputy chief executive of the Forum against Islamophobia and Racism and was a principal officer in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. She previously sat on the Department for Work and Pensions' Ethnic Minority Advisory Group (EMAG). She also sat on the Community Development Forum of the London Health Commission. She was the co-chair of the National Council of Faiths and Beliefs in Further Education.
In March 2005, Dr. Husna Ahmad was on the judging panel for The Muslim News Awards for Excellence. In 2008, she was a member of a Ministerial Working Group on Child Poverty in London.
In November, 2009, Dr. Husna Ahmad was invited to join a UK Muslim Women Delegation to the Grand Mosque in Kuwait. Also in 2009, she was invited by the Foreign & Commonwealth Office to join a British Muslims delegation to Iran.
In 2011, Dr. Husna Ahmad joined the Centre for the Modern Family, a think tank launched by Scottish Widows to improve the understanding of the challenges facing modern British families. In 2011, she co-authored The Green Guide For Hajj, with EcoMuslim consultant Omar Faruk, the book encourages ecologically sustainable practices among Hajj pilgrims and promotes the role Muslims can play in protecting nature. In 2012, she wrote Islam and Water, the story of Hajjar second wife of the Islamic prophet Ibrahim, in particular her search for water, which is commemorated every year in the Hajj. Both books were commissioned by the Alliance of Religions and Conservation.
Between 2012 and 2015, Dr. Husna Ahmad was a National Council member for the Royal National Lifeboat Institute, a charity saving lives at sea in the UK and Republic of Ireland. From 2012, she also held the position of Islamic Advisor to the Alliance of Religions and Conservation.
From 2015 to 2022 she was a board member for Faith in Water. In 2015, Dr. Husna Ahmad also became a board member for the Global Interfaith WASH Alliance.
In 2016, Dr. Husna Ahmad became a board member for BOND, a UK network for organisations working in international development. This was a position that she held until 2019. Between 2016 and 2019, Dr. Husna Ahmad also acted as an International Advisory Board Member to the Commonwealth initiative on Freedom of Religion or Belief.
In 2019, Dr. Husna Ahmad undertook her role as co-chair of the Multi Faith Advisory Council to the UN Taskforce on Religion and Development, a position that she held until 2021. She remains a member of the Multi Faith Advisory Council.
In 2022, Dr. Husna Ahmad was invited to join working group 17 of The Rockefeller Foundation and Brookings Institutes’ annual “17 Rooms” global flagship process. Dr. Husna Ahmad is also a member of the IF20 Environment Working Group.
Dr. Husna Ahmad continues to hold a number of positions, including Secretary General of the World Muslim Leadership Forum and Board Member MCEC Palmers Green Mosque. Dr. Husna Ahmad is also an Honorary Fellow of the Edward Cadbury Centre at Birmingham University, UK.
Alliance of NGOs and CSOs for South-South Cooperation
Dr. Husna Ahmad is Global Coordinator for the Alliance of NGOs and CSOs for South-South Cooperation (ANCSSC). Launched in November 2018, the ANCSSC works in collaboration with the United Nations Office for South-South Cooperation (UNOSSC), to enhance civil society's understanding of the value of South-South Cooperation in developmental, humanitarian and related spheres. The ANCSSC encourages the sharing of knowledge, expertise and contextually appropriate technologies and assets among NGOs and CSOs, particularly those that have been developed in their respective organisational and operational experiences in developing countries.