Mr. Rafiq holds a Masters degree in Water Resources from the University of Newcastle upon Tyne, England, and a Bachelors degree in Agricultural Engineering from the University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, Pakistan.

Currently, Mr. Rafiq is working as Programme Officer with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). The main areas of involvement include providing substantive inputs to the Common Country Assessments (CCA), UN Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF) and UNDP Country Programme Action Plan (CPAP) and UN Reforms. During nine years of association with UNDP-Pakistan, networked with government, UN agencies and non-government partners. Responsible for providing strategic advice to the UNDP's Senior Management to establish UNDP’s niche on global and local environmental issues.

As the Programme Officer (Environment and Energy) have extensive experience of: environment project portfolio development; reporting; monitoring and evaluation; internal and external coordination; analytical studies; interaction with the key partners in government, private sector, civil society, UN agencies and funding agencies; resource mobilisation from global funds (such as Global Environment Facility and Montreal Protocol) and regional/local sources; and, extending advisory support to the external partners.

Prior to joining UNDP, Mr. Rafiq was working as a consultant with the National Engineering Services of Pakistan (NESPAK). Mr. Rafiq has been involved in the planning and designing of the Dera Ghazi Khan Integrated Drainage and Irrigation Project, the Drainage Sector Environmental Asessment Study, the National Drainage Program and the Muzaffargarh Canal Command Project. He has to his credit a number of papers on the water and environment issues.