Head of Mission
High Commissioner of Malaysia to Canada
Her Excellency Dato' Dr Shazelina Zainul Abidin has been the High Commissioner of Malaysia to Canada since December 2024.
A veteran of nearly 30 years with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Malaysia, Dr Shazelina headed the Institute of Diplomacy and Foreign Relations of Malaysia (IDFR) from 2021 to 2023. She spent a busy year leading the relations of Malaysia and countries of South Asia and Central Asia, before taking up the post in Canada.
In April 2024, Dr Shazelina was appointed as the Team Leader and Spokeperson for Malaysia's fact-finding delegation to Afghanistan.
Dr Shazelina's previous stints abroad include Washington D.C.(2001 - 2002), New York - at the Permanent Mission of Malaysia to the United Nations (2007 - 2011), and as Ambassador to the Republic of Senegal (2018 - 2021), where she is the only Malaysian thus far to be awarded the Ordre du Lion, at the rank of Commander, by President Macky Sall.
At the Ministry, Dr Shazelina has headed the Ministry's Communications and Public Relations Division, and worked in the multilateral divisions (Multilateral Economy and Environment, as well as Human Rights and Humanitarian Affairs).
Dr Shazelina holds a B.A. (Hons) in Law and Politics from Queen Mary College, University of London, and an M.Sc in International and European Politics from the University of Edinburgh, UK. Her PhD on the Politics of the Responsibility to Protect was accepted without amendments at the University of Sheffield, where she also holds a post as Honorary Researcher.
Blog: Diplomatic Life