In a significant diplomatic development, the Prime Minister of Pakistan, Mr. Imran Khan, has appointed Mr. Ahmer Bilal Soofi as a Special Envoy to the Prime Minister for the development of an ‘International Convention Against the Defamation of Religions’.

The Board of Directors of WWF-Pakistan has elected Mr. Soofi, a distinguished Supreme Court advocate and international law expert, to lead the organisation. He succeeds Khalid Mahmood, CEO of Getz Pharma (Pvt) Ltd, who served as president from June 2011 to April 2015. Under Mr. Mahmood’s stewardship, WWF-Pakistan advanced initiatives in climate change mitigation, alternate livelihood programs, and marine and coastal ecosystem protection.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa has appointed two additional members to the advisory panel: India’s human rights activist Avdhash Kaushal and Pakistan’s legal expert and former caretaker Federal Law Minister Ahmer Bilal Soofi.