Jemilah Mahmood

In this Malay name, there is no surname or family name. The name Mahmood is a patronymic, and the person should be referred to by their given name, Jemilah. The word "bin" or "binti"/"binte" means 'son of' or 'daughter of', respectively.
Yang Berbahagia Tan Sri Datuk Dr.
Jemilah Mahmood
PSM PJN DSAP DIMP DPMP
Mahmood at the Dubai Future Forum (2024)
Born (1959-12-03) 3 December 1959 (age 65)
Kuala Lumpur, Federation of Malaya (now Malaysia)
NationalityMalaysian
Occupation(s)Doctor and humanitarian activist
SpouseAshar Abdullah
WebsiteInternational Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies MERCY Malaysia

Tan Sri Jemilah binti Mahmood is a Malaysian physician. She has served as Pro-Chancellor of the Heriot-Watt University Malaysia (HWUM) since September 2021, Professor and Executive Director of Sunway Centre for Planetary Health since August 2021, and Senior Fellow at the Adrienne-Arsht-Rockefeller Foundation Resilience Center. She has been a Board Member of Roche since 2022.[1] She served as Special Advisor to the former Prime Minister of Malaysia Muhyiddin Yassin on Public Health from March 2020 to August 2021 and Under-Secretary General for Partnerships in the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) from January 2016 to 2020.[2] Before joining the IFRC, she served as Chief of the Secretariat of the World Humanitarian Summit at the United Nations in New York, heading the humanitarian branch at the United National Population Fund, Chief of the Humanitarian Response Branch at UNFPA in 2011,[3][4] President of the Malaysian Medical Relief Society (Mercy Malaysia) from its foundation in June 1999 to a decade later in 2009. Mercy Malaysia is a medical charity she founded in June 1999, inspired by the Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders).[5] In 2008, she was one of the 16 members appointed by Ban Ki-moon, the former Secretary-General of the United Nations to Advisory Group of the Central Emergency Response Fund.[6]

Education

Jemilah attended Assunta Girls School in Petaling Jaya.[7] She graduated in 1986 as a Doctor of Medicine (MD) from the National University of Malaysia (UKM), and went on to earn her Masters in Obstetrics & Gynaecology from the university in 1992. She became a member of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists in the United Kingdom, and received training in various subspecialties of gynaecology in the United Kingdom. Jemilah has completed the Program for Executive Development at the International Institute of Management and Development (IMD) in Lausanne, Switzerland as well.[8]

Career

She started her career in Kuala Lumpur General Hospital, and was a lecturer in obstetrics and gynaecology at the Medical Faculty of UKM until 1995. She also served as a research fellow at Tokyo University, and became a fellow of the UK Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) in 2004.[8]

From 1995 to 1998, she was the Treasurer for the Malaysian Obstetrical & Gynaecological Organisation. She was also the Vice President for the Malaysian Menopause Organisation from 1999 to 2000.[9] Until 2009, she was an obstetrician and gynaecologist at Ampang Puteri Specialist Hospital in Kuala Lumpur.[9] From 2009 to 2011, Dr Jemilah was in charge of the humanitarian branch of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) in New York City, where she directed her efforts toward reproductive health, gender-based violence, and emergency population data.[10]

In May 2014, Jemilah was appointed to head the World Humanitarian Summit Secretariat at the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) headquarters in New York. "I am extremely grateful and honoured to be appointed to lead the charge in such an important initiative, and that a Malaysian has been selected for the role," said Dr Jemilah in a statement.[11] About the World Humanitarian Summit which integrates the voices of those rarely heard in the international arena, she explains, "This is done through eight regional consultations with affected people, civil society organisations, academia, governments, the private sector and new donors, to really have global solidarity on the current situation of humanitarian challenges."[12] Based on what she had learned at Teach for Malaysia, she further added, if the problems are universal, then the solutions are shareable. According to Dr Jemilah, the consultation is necessary right now because, "in spite of progress and innovation, humanitarian needs are outpacing the response. This is partly because in protracted crises, such as in Syria, where people are displaced by violence that continues with no end in sight, or in the Sahel, where drought recurs every few years, people's needs are multi-dimensional."[13]

Starting in March 2020, Jemilah has been officially appointed as Special Advisor to the Prime Minister of Malaysia, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, on Public Health issues. Upon Jemilah's new appointment, she will be taking responsibility to advise Prime Minister on the policies and initiatives regarding health matter.[14]

From 1 August 2021 she has served as pro-chancellor of Heriot-Watt University Malaysia.[15]

MERCY Malaysia

The medical charity founded by Jemilah, MERCY Malaysia, has performed medical charity and medical rescue work in several countries, including Afghanistan and in Indonesia following the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami.[16]

Awards and recognition

Honours

Personal life

Jemilah is married to Ashar Abdullah, and they have two sons.[24]

References

  1. ^ "Roche | Prof. Dr. Jemilah Mahmood". www.roche.com. Retrieved 2023-05-24.
  2. ^ "Jemilah Mahmood - IFRC". Ifrc.org. Retrieved 24 August 2017.
  3. ^ "WHS Middle East & North Africa Consultation Meeting - humanitarianforum". Humanitarianforum.org. 1 April 2015. Archived from the original on 27 May 2017. Retrieved 24 August 2017.
  4. ^ "EC Audiovisual Service - Photo". ec.europa.eu. Retrieved 24 August 2017.
  5. ^ "IMD alumnus Jemilah Mahmood receives prestigious ISA Award for Service to Humanity". Archived from the original on 2015-09-21. Retrieved 2015-07-28.
  6. ^ "UN Secretary-General appoints new members to Advisory Group of the Central Emergency Response Fund". Reliefweb.int. 31 October 2008. Retrieved 24 August 2017.
  7. ^ "An angel of mercy". Assuntaalumni.com. Archived from the original on 2018-04-23. Retrieved 2017-08-24.
  8. ^ a b c "Jemilah Mahmood | Doctors of the World USADoctors of the World USA". doctorsoftheworld.org. Archived from the original on 22 September 2013. Retrieved 17 January 2022.
  9. ^ a b "FaST Guide - Faraid as-Salihin Trustee Guide". Archived from the original on 2015-10-08. Retrieved 2015-07-28.
  10. ^ "Board of Trustees". Archived from the original on 2015-10-04. Retrieved 2015-08-19.
  11. ^ "Jemilah Mahmood to head UN-led humanitarian summit secretariat - Nation - The Star Online". Thestar.com.my. Retrieved 2017-08-24.
  12. ^ "In the eye of the storm - Nation - The Star Online". Thestar.com.my. Retrieved 2017-08-24.
  13. ^ Mahmood, Jemilah (19 June 2015). "Humanitarian funding is not enough: we must increase people's resilience". The Guardian.
  14. ^ Dr. Jemilah appointed PM's Special Advisor | New Straits Times, nst.com.my
  15. ^ "Heriot-Watt University Malaysia Appoints Professor Tan Sri Dr Jemilah Mahmood as Pro-Chancellor". 9 September 2021.
  16. ^ "Rebuilding lives". The Star (Malaysia). 10 October 2007. Archived from the original on 12 October 2007. Retrieved 2017-08-24.
  17. ^ "MERCY Malaysia's Datuk Dr. Jemilah Mahmood Is First Malaysian To Win Gandhi, King, Ikeda Award". MERCY Malaysia. 2006. Archived from the original on 2008-05-12. Retrieved 2017-08-24.
  18. ^ "Bahrain honours Mercy Malaysia's Dr Jemilah Mahmood for services to humanity". The Star (Malaysia). 2 May 2013. Retrieved 2017-08-24.
  19. ^ "Dr Jemilah Mahmood is 2019 Asean Prize recipient". The New Straits Times. 3 November 2019. Retrieved 15 December 2019.
  20. ^ Humanitarian Leader Wins ASEAN Prize 2019|The ASEAN Secretariat, asean.org
  21. ^ "mStar Online : Semangat tidak luntur walaupun pernah ditembak, Dr Jemilah Mahmood". Mstar.com.my. 22 July 2011. Archived from the original on 22 July 2011. Retrieved 2017-08-24.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  22. ^ "Semakan Penerima Darjah Kebesaran, Bintang dan Pingat".
  23. ^ "Archives - The Star Online". Thestar.co.my. Archived from the original on 16 September 2017. Retrieved 24 August 2017.
  24. ^ "The humanitarian crusade of Dr Jemilah Mahmood". Themalaysiantimes.com.my. 8 May 2014. Archived from the original on 2017-08-24. Retrieved 2017-08-24.