Dr. Abdulaziz Sager - A Saudi strategic expert specializing in international politics and regional security issues, he is the Founder and Chairman of the Gulf Research Center. Dr. Sager has also been a visiting professor at a number of universities, and member of various councils, advisory and academic committees, institutes and international research centers.He participates in international and regional conferences that address issues pertaining to the Gulf region. Notably, he has authored and edited numerous publications and has many articles in local and international newspapers related to Gulf affairs and regional issues, and he frequently contributes to major international media outlets. He is also the editor-in-chief of "Araa" a monthly Arabic-language magazine focused on Gulf affairs and is the editor-in-chief of "The Gulf Yearbook."Dr. Sager holds a PhD in politics and international relations from Lancaster University.

Jamila Ali Rajaa is the Vice Chairperson for the Consultation and Reconciliation Commission under the Presidential Leadership Council. Ms. Rajaa holds the status of Ambassador following 30 years of service with the government of Yemen as a representative and advisor in the diplomatic corps, as well as various ministries. Following the 2011 uprising, she was a member of the Comprehensive National Dialogue Conference which its outcomes were the main components of the newly drafted constitution.    Jamila is also the founder of a private consultancy firm that works closely with international and regional peace, development, and humanitarian agencies. She is a well-known mediator and facilitator in the three peace-building tracks. As a senior researcher, analyst, and lecturer, Rajaa has published numerous studies and articles related to human development, human rights, media and communications, gender, and civil society in Yemen and across the Middle East and North Africa. 

Anita Zaidi is the president of the foundation’s Gender Equality Division. In this role, Anita oversees the foundation’s efforts to achieve gender equality by ensuring that women and girls in Africa and South Asia can enjoy good health, make their own choices, earn their own money, be leaders in their societies, and children survive and thrive. Anita joined the foundation in 2014 to lead a team focused on vaccine development for people in the poorest parts of the world, surveillance to identify and address causes of death in children in the most under-served areas, and significantly reducing the adverse consequences of diarrheal and enteric infections on children’s health in low and middle-income countries. She served as the foundation’s director of the Vaccine Development, Surveillance, and Enteric and Diarrheal Diseases programs until November 2022. In those roles, she championed the creation of the foundation’s Maternal, Newborn, and Child Health Discovery & Tools program; the prioritization of HPV vaccination to prevent cervical cancer; and the creation of the Women Leaders in Global Health program—now called WomenLift Health—to promote diversity in global health leadership. She has led the Gender Equality division since November 2020.Previously, Anita was the department chair of Pediatrics and Child Health at the Aga Khan University in Karachi, Pakistan. She obtained her medical degree specializing in pediatric infectious diseases at Aga Khan University, and completed further trainings at Duke University, Boston’s Children’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, and the Harvard School of Public Health. In 2013, Anita became the first recipient of the $1 million Caplow Children’s Prize for her pioneering work in bringing health services and wraparound care to mothers and children in poverty-stricken communities in Karachi. In 2014, she was nominated as a physician of the year by Medscape. In 2021, she was elected to the U.S. National Academy of Medicine.

Charles Lister is a senior fellow and the Director of the Syria and Countering Terrorism & Extremism programs at the Middle East Institute. His work focuses on all-things Syria and on issues of terrorism and insurgency across the Levant. In early-2022, Lister launched the Resolving the Detainee Crisis Initiative, a major multinational effort to privately facilitate more effective solutions to the post-ISIS detainee challenge in northeastern Syria. The initiative, run in collaboration with the UK-based International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation (ICSR), has convened more than 30 governments for multiple discreet working gatherings in Washington D.C., London and Vienna and achieved clear and significant policy progress.   Prior to joining MEI, Lister was a Visiting Fellow at the Brookings Institution in Qatar and a Senior Consultant to the multinationally-backed Syria Track II Dialogue Initiative, in which he managed nearly three years of intensive face-to-face engagement with the leaderships of over 100 Syrian armed opposition groups. Lister has also previously held other positions at the Brookings Institution and at IHS Jane’s in London, UK. Lister’s critically acclaimed book, The Syrian Jihad: Al-Qaeda, the Islamic State and the Evolution of an Insurgency, was published in February 2016 by Oxford University Press. He has also published The Islamic State: A Brief Introduction (Brookings Press, 2015) and Winning the Battle, Losing the War: Addressing the Drivers of Non-State Armed Actors and Extremist Groups (ed.) (MEI, 2019). He is now working on a fourth book on Syria, commissioned by Oxford University Press.

Responsible for providing advisory service for leading multinationals, chambers of commerce and private business sectors on trade policies, BRI initiative, tech innovation and ESG.  Mike’s expertise is on Globalization, Digital Economy, Corporate Governance, Carbon Neutralization, Compliance and Tech Regulatory policies.Mike is an accomplished executive with 35+ years of outstanding career in digital transformation, cross culture leadership and market growth strategies with leading technology multinationals.  Mike is the former Managing Director and legal Rep for DXC Technology in Greater China region, and before that Mike was the global Vice President, Country Head and legal Rep for Infosys in Greater China region.Mike’s experience spans across Greater China, India, US, and Singapore where Mike has demonstrated his unique capacity to accomplish the growth agenda for the organizations he has served.Mike is a frequent speaker at various industry forums.  Mike has been invited to participate in the Summer Davos in 2017, the Business Summit of BRICS in 2017, and the 10th Arab – China Business Conference in 2023Mike completed the executive education at Stanford University, and holds an MBA from University of Miami in Florida and a bachelor’s degree in CIS from Renmin University in Beijing.

Previously, Director of Strategic International Relations, Tecnológico de Monterrey, Nathan was a career diplomat for more than 25 years, holding relevant positions in Mexico and abroad.He was Deputy Chief of Staff  of the Minister of Foreign Relations, Diplomatic Advisor to the Presidency of the Republic and General Director of International Economic Promotion of the Ministry of Foreign Relations. As a career diplomat officer he was posted to the Mexican Embassies in Montevideo, Uruguay and in Washington DC, USA. He was Chief of Mission of the Consulate of Mexico in Saint Paul, Minnesota and his last diplomatic position was as an Ambassador of Mexico to Singapore and concurrent to Myanmar and Brunei.He has also worked in the private sector on renewable energy and sustainability issues.He has a degree in Marketing from Tecnológico de Monterrey, and studies in International Affairs from the American University in Washington, D.C., USA.As a Mexican diplomat, Nathán Wolf has been awarded the Order of Civil Merit in the degree of the Silver Cross, from the Government of the Kingdom of Spain; the Royal Order of the Polar Star, in the degree of Officer, from the Government of the Kingdom of Sweden; and various acknowledgments from the authorities of the state of Minnesota, USA.Some of his hobbies are running, functional exercise, soccer, football, and traveling.nwolf@consejomexicano.org

Femi Oke is an award-winning international journalist, British-Nigerian broadcaster, professional moderator  and co-founder and CEO of the diverse all-female moderators bureau "Moderate The Panel."  Based in Washington, D.C where she hosted the interactive news and current affairs programme “The Stream” on Al Jazeera English for a decade, Femi is currently writing a true crime series for Audible, reporting for NPR's midday news program "Here & Now" and moderating events around the world.Femi's broadcast credits include BBC television and radio, Sky TV, all the U.K. terrestrial commercial television networks, CNN, U.S. public radio and Al Jazeera English. As a professional moderator Femi has presided over major global events including European Development Days for the European Commission, the UN Secretary-General's SDG Action Weekend and the UNDP's Annual Human Development Report. If you ask Femi what the key is to longevity in the media business she will tell you - “Don’t let rejection put you off. Treat a no as the scenic route to yes, and always moisturise.”

Ellen Laipson is the Director of the International Security Program at the Schar School of Policy and Government at George Mason University and directs the Center for Security Policy Studies.  She joined GMU in 2017 after a distinguished 25 -year career in government and as President and CEO of the Stimson Center (2002-2015).  She serves on a number of non-governmental boards related to international security and diplomacy.  Her last post in government was Vice Chair of the National Intelligence Council (1997-2002). She also served on the State Department's policy planning staff, the National Security Council staff, and worked at the Congressional Research Service for more than a decade.  A member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the American Academy of Diplomacy, she serves on the Advisory Councils of Georgetown University’s Institute for the Study of Diplomacy, Notre Dame’s International Security Center, the Center for Climate and Security, and WWF’s Oceans Futures.  She was a member of the CIA External Advisory Panel from 2006-2009, President Obama's Intelligence Advisory Board from 2009-2013, and on the Secretary of State's Foreign Affairs Policy Board 2011-2014. Laipson has an M.A. from the School of Advanced International Studies, Johns Hopkins University and an AB from Cornell University.

Jonathan Adashek is IBM’s Senior Vice President, Marketing and Communications and Chief Communications Officer.Jonathan was appointed the head of Marketing in January 2022, adding to his previous responsibilities as Chief Communications Officer. He is responsible for overseeing the company’s global Marketing, Communications and Corporate Citizenship organization, which also includes ESG, Analyst Relations, demand generation, branding, business development for government, social media, sponsorships and strategic events across the company.Jonathan has aligned the function to IBM’s overall strategic and business objectives. He also led the team through the separation of Kyndryl, the response to COVID-19, and various social issues. His background in managing global teams has helped in driving a more nimble and agile approach.Before joining IBM, Jonathan was employed at Renault Nissan Mitsubishi Alliance in Paris, where he was the Alliance Global Vice President, Communications. His prior positions include: Chief Communications Officer at Nissan Motor Co. in Yokohama, Japan; General Manager, Communications Strategy at Microsoft; and Executive Vice President and Global Client Relationship Manager at Edelman -- where he worked with a variety of clients including Microsoft, Starbucks, Walmart, and the Abu Dhabi and United Arab Emirates governments.He brings more than 25 years of experience across domestic and global teams serving different sectors, including technology, automotive and manufacturing, government, retail, finance, energy, B2B and B2C. He also brings governmental and political experience with him, having worked in the Clinton Administration White House and Treasury Department as well as on multiple U.S. presidential campaigns.  A graduate of University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Jonathan earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science.Jonathan is an avid music and Wisconsin sports fan. He lives in Westchester County, NY and in his personal time, you can find him spending time with his wife, their two kids and dog.

Eng. Salim Al Aufi has a Masters degree in Pe- troleum Engineering from Heriot-Watt University. He Joined Petroleum Development Oman (PDO) in 1992, and progressed within the organization in different technical and leadership roles, which culminated in him becoming the Oil North Direc- tor in 2010. This Board level position is responsi- ble for all operations of Oil North Asset of PDO.In his career spanning well over 28 years, Al Aufi held different local and international positions, including PDO’s Head of Corpo- rate Planning, Chief Petroleum Engineering and Operations Manager. During his tenure in PDO, Al Aufi was posted to Shell Nigeria as Petroleum Engineer and Asset Planner, and to Shell Canada as the Vice President of Production.In May 2012, His Majesty appointed Salim Al Aufi as the Chief Executive Officer of the Public Authority for Civil Aviation, and in December 2013 he was appointed as the Undersecretary for the Ministry of Oil & Gas (now Ministry of Energy and Minerals) until mid of June 2022.In June 2022, H.E. Salim Al Aufi was appointed as the Minister of Energy and Minerals, Al Aufi’s portfolio includes Exploration and Production of hydrocarbons, Electricity and Mining Regulato- ry responsibilities, Renewables and Hydrogen in the Sultanate of Oman.

Juliana Rotich is an internationally-acclaimed techpreneur and fintech leader who believes in the impact of science and technology in building transformative technologies that fix problems and help people.Currently, as the Head of Fintech Solutions at Safaricom PLC, she leads the development of innovative fintech integrations for strategic stakeholders leveraging the world’s most popular mobile money platform; M-PESA. She is an AI Ethics & Safety Advisory Committee member at Bill and Melinda gates foundation, MIT Media Lab Director's Fellow, Senior TED Fellow and WEF Young Global Leader and currently sits on the boards of Girl Effect, Mookh Africa and Atlas AI.In 2018, she was appointed as a Member of the Ministerial Task Force on Blockchain, AI & Emerging Technology under the Ministry of ICT, Innovation & Youth Affairs in Kenya. She also previously served as a board member/advisory of several public and private institutions, including Bankinter Foundation, Microsoft 4Afrika, BASF, Standard Group Media and the Kenya Vision 2030 Delivery Board.  She has had a stellar professional career spanning close to two decades with numerous achievements during her role as the Co-Founder/Executive Director of BRCK.org, an integrated hardware and software company that designs and engineers rugged, self-powered, mobile WiFi devices as well as at Ushahidi, a not-for-profit technology company that develops tools used globally in mapping disaster responses. She received the 2019 German Africa Prize from German Chancellor Angela Merkel as a tribute not only for her business achievements and technological innovations, but also for her outstanding sense of social responsibility. 

Paul Salem is president and CEO of the Middle East Institute. He focuses on issues of political change, transition, and conflict as well as the regional and international relations of the Middle East. Salem is the author and editor of a number of books and reports including Escaping the Conflict Trap: Toward Ending Civil Wars in the Middle East (ed. with Ross Harrison, MEI 2019). Prior to joining MEI, Salem was the founding director of the Carnegie Middle East Center in Beirut, Lebanon between 2006 and 2013.  From 1999 to 2006, he was director of the Fares Foundation and in 1989-1999 founded and directed the Lebanese Center for Policy Studies, Lebanon's leading public policy think tank.

Omar Shakir serves as the Israel and Palestine Director at Human Rights Watch, where he investigates human rights abuses in Israel, the West Bank, and Gaza and has authored several major reports, including a 2021 report comprehensively documenting how Israeli authorities are committing the crimes against humanity of apartheid and persecution against millions of Palestinians. As a result of his advocacy, the Israeli government deported Omar in November 2019. Prior to his current role, he was a Bertha Fellow at the Center for Constitutional Rights, where he focused on US counterterrorism policies, including legal representation of Guantanamo detainees. As the 2013-14 Arthur R. and Barbara D. Finberg Fellow at Human Rights Watch, he investigated human rights violations in Egypt, including the Rab’a massacre, one of the largest killings of protesters in a single day. A former Fulbright Scholar in Syria, Omar holds a JD from Stanford Law School, where he co-authored a report on the civilian consequences of US drone strikes in Pakistan as a part of the International Human Rights & Conflict Resolution Clinic, an MA in Arab Studies from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Affairs, and a BA in International Relations from Stanford.

Wadah Khanfar currently is the president of Al Sharq Forum, an NGO that is specilised in networking amongst policy makers and strategists in Al Sharq region, he is the chairman and co-founder of Common Action Forum, and he is a member of board of trustees of International Crisis Group ICG, the former Director General of Al Jazeera Network.

Niels Annen is a German politician who has been serving as Parliamentary State Secretary in the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development in the coalition government of Chancellor Olaf Scholz since 2021. He served as Minister of State at the Federal Foreign Office from 2018 to 2021 in the government of Chancellor Angela Merkel. Mr. Annen has served as member of the German Bundestag from 2005 to 2009 and since 2013. As a long-time member of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, Annen established himself as a foreign policy expert, focusing largely on the German engagement in Afghanistan and the Middle East. As a Spanish speaker, he is also well versed in the history and politics of Latin and Central America. Within the Committee on Foreign Affairs, he has served on the Subcommittee for Arms Control and Non Proliferation as well as the Subcommittee for the United Nations. From 2014 to 2018, he served as the Foreign Policy Spokesperson for the Social Democratic Party of Germany. Mr. Annen was a Senior Transatlantic Resident at the German Marshall Fund in Washington between 2010 and 2011. From 2011 until 2013 he worked for the department for International Policy Analysis of the Friedrich Ebert Foundation in Berlin. He holds a Master Degree in International Public Policy of the Johns Hopkins University, Washington D.C., USA. Twitter & Instagram: @NielsAnnen

 Logan Cochrane is an Associate Professor at HBKU and is Associate Dean for Academic Affairs in the College of Public Policy. He is an Associate Fellow of the Ethiopian Academy of Sciences.

Sami Abu Shehadeh is a Palestinian politician based in Jaffa. He is the chairman of the National Democratic Assembly party since August 2022. He served as a member of the Israeli Parliament in the Joint List on behalf of the National Democratic Assembly party from September 2019 until November 2022. In addition, from 2010 till 2013, Abu Shehadeh served as a member of the Tel Aviv-Jaffa Municipality Council on behalf of the Jaffa List.Abu Shehadeh studied History of the Middle East and Political Sciences at Tel Aviv University and specialized in researching the history of Jaffa as an Arab cultural center during the Mandate period. He also studied Career Counseling at Tel Aviv University and Youth Studies at the Tel Aviv-Jaffa College.Since mid-1990’s Abu Shehadeh was an active member and on the board of several NGOs that worked with the Palestinian minority in Jaffa and within the Arab-Palestinian minority in Israel in general, such as: Darna – the Popular Committee for Housing and Land Rights in Jaffa, Mada Al-Karmel Research Center, The Arab Cultural Association, Adalah – The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel.Abu Shehadeh established in 2010 the Jaffa Youth Movement that has been working on empowering Arab-Palestinian youth in Jaffa, developing their national awareness and identity, and preparing high school students for academic careers.

Erin McCandless is an academic and policy advisor with three decades experience working on and in conflict- and crisis-affected settings in over 20 countries globally. Her focus lies on understanding these contexts and how processes of peacemaking, peacebuilding and transformative social change unfold and nurtured in synergistic ways towards the fostering of more just, sustainable and peaceful futures. Dr. McCandless is affiliated with the Politics Department at the University of Witwatersrand in South Africa (where she resides), the Institute for Development and Sustainability in Germany and the Global Institute for Strategic Research in Qatar. For the spring semester of 2024 she will join the Hamad Bin Khalifa University’s College of Public Policy as a Distinguished Visiting Professor of Public Value. Dr. McCandless has worked extensively with the United Nations in Liberia and across UN agencies combining research, policy advising and strategic facilitation. From 2015-2018 she directed a multi-country research and policy dialogue project on Forging Resilient Social Contracts, and from 2011-2018 she served as a senior civil society representative in the International Dialogue on Peacebuilding and Statebuilding ‘New Deal’ process. Dr. McCandless is a sought after speaker and author of more than 100 publications, including three books (one edited), several impactful United Nations studies.

Adrian V. S. Hill is the Director and Founder of the Jenner Institute and Mittal Professor of Vaccinology at Oxford University. His group has been one of the leaders in the development of adenoviral and other vaccines against infectious diseases and he has tested these in extensively in clinical trials in Africa and Europe. In partnership with the Serum Institute of India and AstraZeneca the Jenner Institute developed rapidly a ChAdOx1 vector-based SARS-CoV-2 vaccine which saved an estimated 6.2 million lives in 2021 alone. His lab has also designed a new malaria vaccine, R21/Matrix-MTM, which has recently reached regulatory reviews for licensure, again in partnership with the Serum Institute of India and also Novavax Inc. In 2021 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society and appointed an Honorary Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire (KBE) in Queen Elizabeth’s Birthday Honours.

Dr Hossam Elsharkawi has over 30 years of professional experience in the humanitarian world, spanning assignments in more than 35 countries, comprising volunteer and professional work with many National Societies, ICRC and IFRC. He was previously Vice President of Health in Emergencies, Learning and Innovation at the Canadian Red Cross, where he led the preparedness and response for complex humanitarian emergencies.Previously, Dr Hossam worked with the World Health Organization (WHO) to develop guidance for medical teams responding to health emergencies in armed conflict and insecure environments.Dr Hossam holds a Bachelor’s degree in Clinical Biochemistry, from City University in London, United Kingdom, a Certificate in Healthcare Management from the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston, Massachusetts, and a Ph.D. degree in Health Management from Alberta University in Canada. He is currently an Adjunct Professor at the University of British Columbia and guest faculty at McGill and McMaster Universities. He teaches disaster response and healthcare in complex humanitarian crises.

Nudhara Yusuf is Executive Coordinator of the Global Governance Innovation Network (GGIN) and Researcher with Stimson’s Global Governance, Justice & Security Program. She also serves as Global Youth Coordinator at the Coalition for the UN We Need (C4UN), and advisor to several civil society organizations including UNA-UK and NGOCSD-NY; serving on the Board of foundations and charities focused on empowering young people and women. Prior to Stimson, Nudhara worked with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)’s SDG Integration Team and helped build the UNDP Regional Bureau for the Asia Pacific’s Strategic Foresight Unit. She has supported both Indian state welfare ministers in designing social inclusion programs at the grassroots, and the British Shadow Secretary of State for Justice in UK’s Parliament. Nudhara’s research and advocacy primarily focuses on governance of and with future generations, the role of globalization, technology, and development in shifting the multilateral architecture, and engaging youth in governance. She is lead author of the AI and Cyber Chapter of the Doha Forum’s Future of International Cooperation Report 2023.

Bruno Lanvin is currently the President of IMD’s Smart City Observatory, and a Distinguished Fellow at INSEAD. He is the co-founder and co-author of four of the most widely used global indices on technology (Network Readiness Index), innovation (Global Innovation Index), talent (Global Talent Competitiveness Index) and Smart Cities (Smart City Index). He is also the author of the Future Readiness Economic Index Report (FREI). He is co-founder and advisor of Portulans Institute, a thinktank based in Washington DC. He is the founder and president of DL Partners, a Geneva-based consultancy, and of Descartes Institute, a think tank also based in Geneva.During 30 years, he worked at the United Nations and at the World Bank, where he held senior positions. He currently advises governments, international organizations and multinational companies on strategic issues and the overall notion of future readiness. He is a member of several boards in different parts of the world. His latest book (The Future Is Young) was published in July 2022.Previously, he was the Executive Director for Global Indices at INSEAD. From 2007 to 2012, he was the Executive Director of INSEAD’s eLab, managing INSEAD’s teams in Paris, Singapore and Abu Dhabi. From 2000 to 2007, Bruno Lanvin worked for the World Bank, where he was inter alia Senior Advisor for E-strategies, and Regional Coordinator (Europe and Central Asia) for ICT and e-government issues. He was also heading the Capacity Building Practice of the World Bank’s Global ICT Department, and Chairman of the Bank’s e‐Thematic Group. He has taught in a number of universities in Europe and in the United States.Bruno Lanvin studied in France and in the USA. He holds a BA in Mathematics and Physics, an MBA (HEC), a PhD in Economics (La Sorbonne), and certificates from INSEAD (IDP-C) and MIT (Smart Cities).A French national, and the proud father of four, he currently lives in Switzerland.

Ghida Fakhry is an international broadcast journalist with over 20 years experience as a reporter, news anchor, columnist/opinion writer, and moderator. She is currently based in Washington DC and hosts Inside America with Ghida Fakhry, a weekly program covering US politics, and Bigger than Five, a monthly global affairs program for international broadcaster TRT World. She regularly moderates UN conferences and other global forums, including the World Economic Forum. She was Moderator of season 1 of the recently-relaunched Doha debates. She has also been a contributor to the Huffington Post. At the launch of Aljazeera English in 2006, she served as a Lead Anchor for the Washington D.C. broadcast center.* She presented the daily prime time 'Newshour' and conducted high-level interviews for 'Talk to Aljazeera'’ In November 2008, she co-anchored the channel's 12-hour live coverage of the US presidential election from Washington D.C. She moved to the channel's Doha headquarters in 2010 as Senior News and Programs Presenter. She also hosted the award-winning program 'Witness' and was a regular presenter of the current affairs program 'Inside Story.'’A passionate journalist, Ghida started her career as a Political Correspondent for a leading UK-based Middle East newspaper before moving into television news. She was a frequent analyst on CNN International and a CNN World Report Contributor. As New York Bureau Chief for Aljazeera, she covered the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center and its aftermath. She reported on-location from Iraq and Afghanistan following the US-led invasion in 2003 and conducted in-depth interviews with senior US officials, including Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and Secretary of State Colin Powell. Ghida Fakhry has also reported extensively from the United Nations in New York, covering the Security Council and annual sessions of the General Assembly. She traveled with Secretary-General Kofi Annan throughout the Middle East and Africa and conducted several in-depth interviews with him throughout his 10-year tenure. She also interviewed several Heads of State/Government, including Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi, Israeli President Shimon Peres, Afghan President Hamid Karzai and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, among others.

Ann Snow MBE was appointed UK Special Representative for Syria in succession to Jonathan Hargreaves. She took up her appointment in May 2023.Ms Snow joined the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) in 2009. She has served in Malaysia and worked on Iran, China and Counter Terrorism. Before joining the FCDO, she worked for an international human rights organisation, the UK Parliament and as a Middle East analyst in the private sector.Curriculum vitae2023 to present UK Special Representative for Syria2022 to present Full-time Language Training (Arabic)2020-2022 FCDO, Deputy Head, China Department2017 to 2020 FCO, Head Iran Nuclear, Middle East and North Africa Directorate2012 to 2017 Kuala Lumpur, Political Section, British High Commission2012  Full-time Language Training (Bahasa Malaysia)2009 to 2012 FCO, Research Analyst, Counter Terrorism Department2006 to 2009 Amnesty International UK, Policy Advisor2003 to 2006 UK Parliament, Committee Specialist, Foreign Affairs Committee2002 to 2003 Dunn & Bradstreet, Analyst/Editor2000 to 2002 Oxford Analytica, Middle East Editor

Dr. Al-Khal earned his MBBCh from the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland in 1989. He undertook his internship at Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC) in the State of Qatar, and in 1991, joined the Internal Medicine Residency Training Program at the University of Connecticut School of Medicine, CT, USA, followed by completion of a 2-year fellowship in Infectious Diseases at Hartford Hospital. He was awarded the Diploma of the American Board of Infectious Diseases in 1996. He was recertified in Infectious Diseases in 2013.Dr. Al-Khal holds several clinical positions, chairs a variety of committees, and has led number of strategic projects at HMC. Between 1999-2001, he servwd as the Chair of Family Medicine and as the Chair of Department of Medicine from 2001 until 2012. Dr. Al-Khal has been the Head of Infectious Diseases  Division since 1998 and the Lead of the Communicable Disease Center and is also the National TB Program Manager and the Director of the Clinical AIDS Program. As Deputy Chief Medical Officer and the Director of Medical Education/DIO, he has notably led HMC's achievement of ACGME-I accreditation, and in 2018 recieved ACGME's Physician  International Award, to recognize his outstanding contributions to improving the quality of graduate medical education in Qatar. Dr. Al-Khal also has an advisory role to several public health programs under the umbrella of Qatar's Ministry of Public Health.Dr. Al-Khal currently holds an appointment as Adjunct Professor of Clinical Medicine at Weill Cornell Medicine Qatar (WCM-Q) and as Clinical Professor of Medicine at Qatar University  College of Medicine  (QU CMED) as well as serves as QU CMED's Director of the Clinical Affairs  Department. He remains active in research and publishes regularly in the fields of Internal Medicine,.Pharmacology, Infectious Diseases  and Medical Education.

On 31 October 2022, Mr. Othman BELBEISI was appointed Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa (RD, MENA) with the IOM Regional Office, Cairo.Between September 2019 and September 2022, Mr. BELBEISI served as the Senior Regional Advisor for the MENA in Geneva HQ.Mr. BELBEISI joined IOM in March 2003. He has since held various positionsacross multiple IOM portfolios, including Chief of Mission, Libya (April 2013 to September 2019). He was the IOM Country Representative in Lebanon (February 2008 to April 2013) Mr. BELBEISI is of Jordanian nationality and commenced with IOM in Amman.Mr. BELBEISI has been deployed to numerous MENA locations throughout his career, with a focus on managing migration crises. He served as Emergency Coordinator for the Syrian and Libyan crises and act as the Director General's Special Envoy for Iraq since early 2022. Mr. BELBEISI has attained a wide experience in Emergency Responses and Migration Management.Holding both a bachelor's and master's degree in Business Administration, Mr. BELBEISI also contributed to numerous research papers on topics related to migration and displacement.

Dr Khalid Koser is the founding Executive Director of the Global Community Engagement and Resilience Fund, the global fund dedicated to preventing violent extremism. He is Professor of Conflict, Peace, and Security at the University of Maastricht. Khalid was appointed MBE for services to asylum seekers and refugees, chaired the World Economic Forum Future Council on Migration, and was editor of the Journal of Refugee Studies. He was recently ranked by Stanford University in the top 2 percent of scientists worldwide.

Debjani Ghosh is the President of the nasscom since April 2018. A veteran of the technology industry, she is the first women at the helm of the organization’s three-decade history. Driven by a strong belief in the need for human-centric technology that enhances lives and livelihood, Debjani is a vocal advocate for the ethical and responsible use of technology. Under her leadership, nasscom actively works with the industry to ensure responsible practices and build trust as a core competitive advantage for the tech industry in India. Under her guidance, NASSCOM has prioritized the development of a Responsible AI Resource Kit, in partnership with leading industry stakeholders, to promote the adoption of responsible tech solutions. Back in 2019, nasscom under her leadership coined the term “Techade” to define a decade where technology will play a transformative role to create a sustainable, equitable and safe future, powered by human-centric innovation.  Debjani also believes that by the end of this Techade  the Tech Industry in India will be established as the world’s leading technology ecosystem and the ""I"" in innovation will stand for India, fuelled by India’s young talent, the growing confidence in our capabilities to solve for the world and our proven success in building open and interoperable tech ecosystems like the Digital Public Infrastructure, to deliver at scale services grounds up. Debjani is also a vocal advocate for building a truly inclusive technology sector where talent and meritocracy thrives above all.  In January 2018, Debjani was felicitated by the President of India under the auspices of the ‘First Ladies’ program, which honors exceptional women pioneers in their respective fields. In 2020, she has been honored by Vogue as the Tech Leader of the year 2020. Recognizing her contribution in the field of technology, Debjani was also facilitated in ‘40 over 40 - World’s Most Inspiring Women’ list by Fe:maleOneZero (F10) Magazine in 2022. With multiple feathers in her cap, before joining nasscom, she was the first woman to lead Intel India and the Manufacturers' Association for Information Technology (MAIT), she was also a member of the executive council at nasscom. She believes that learning never stops, and a trainable mindset is the biggest strength one can have. Debjani holds a bachelor's degree in political science from Osmania University in Hyderabad, India, and an MBA degree in marketing from S.P. Jain Institute of Management and Research in Mumbai, India.

Ms. Afrah Al-Zouba, is the managing director of the Executive Bureau for the Acceleration of Aid absorption and Support for Policy Reforms, as the bureau supports the government's efforts in priority areas. Al-Zouba was appointed as an advisor in the area of humanitarian relief to the Prime Minister, in 2019. She also served as Deputy Secretary-General of the National Dialogue Conference and the Constitution Drafting Committee (2013-2015).Al-Zouba was among a delegation of Yemeni women leaders participating in the Kuwait negotiations in 2017, at the invitation of the Office of the UN Special Envoy to Yemen. She  Participated in dialogues and seminars with other high-caliber Yemeni politicians and peacemakers to support UN efforts for peace building,   and represented Yemen in many regional and international events. She has worked for more than 20 years in development, research, conflict resolution and peacebuilding, and has extensive experience working with local communities, identifying their needs and strengthening their resilience. Her development experience covers a wide range of issues such as poverty reduction interventions to health and education, etc.She undertook supervisory roles for projects related to capacity building of youth and inclusion in political and social life. In addition to women’s empowerment programs.Al-Zouba holds a Master’s degree in Business Administration from the University of Science and Technology in Sana’a, a Master’s degree in Community Health from the National University of Malaysia and a Bachelor’s degree in Pharmaceutical sciences from Sana’a University.

Folly Bah Thibault is a journalist, Principal Presenter for Al Jazeera English, based in Doha, Qatar. She is the founder and president of the NGO ‘Elle ira à l’école’ Fondation Kesso Bah- which promotes the education of young girls in Guinea and the West Africa Region. Folly is also Global Champion for Education Cannot Wait, the UN’s Global Fund for Education in Emergencies and Protracted Crises. Folly joined Al Jazeera Media Network in 2010, having previously worked at the French news channel, France24 in Paris and Voice of America in Washington D.C. As such, she has covered some of the world's biggest news and interviewed some of the world's top leaders, newsmakers, and other influential people including Bill Gates, UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed and Nobel laureates Malala Yusufzai, Wole Soyinka and Dmitry Muratov. She is fluent in English, French and Peulh. And knows conversational Swahili."

1994-1998 – BA in International Relations, Baku Institute of Political Science and Social Management1998-2000 – MA in International Relations, Public Administration Academy under the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan2000-2003 – Ministry of Foreign Affairs2003-2005 – Mission to OSCE, Vienna2005-2008 – Ministry of Foreign Affairs2008-2011 – Mission to EU, Brussels2011-2013 – Ministry of Foreign Affairs2013-2015 – Director, International Cooperation Dept., Ministry of EducationJune 2015-January 2017 – Deputy Chief of Staff, Ministry of EducationJanuary -June 2017– Chief of Staff, Ministry of EducationSince June 2017 – Deputy Chief, Secretariat of the First Vice-President of the Republic of AzerbaijanSince September 2020 - Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs

Mr. Mazen Shaqoura is currently the Regional Representative for the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. He has over 25 years of experience with the United Nations in human rights, rule of law, democratic development, good governance and program management. In his previous incarnations, Mr. Shaqoura was deployed in Tunis, Bahrain, the Occupied Palestinian Territories, Lebanon and Sudan.He is a Palestinian national, and is fluent in Arabic, English and French. He holds a Master of Arts in Diplomacy.

Dr. Christina Schori Liang is Head of Counter-Terrorism and Preventing Violent Extremism at the Geneva Centre for Security Policy (GCSP) in Geneva, Switzerland. She offers training and strategic policy guidance both in Geneva and for global security actors worldwide including the United Nations, the European Commission, NATO and the OSCE. Dr. Liang is a prolific writer on extremism, terrorism, and transnational organised crime. Since 2002, Dr Liang has taught University courses. In 2016, she became an Adjunct Faculty member of the Paris School of International Affairs (PSIA), Sciences Po where she teaches courses within the Global Risks and Intelligence Studies departments. She holds a doctorate in International Relations and an MA in History and International Politics from the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, Geneva, Switzerland.

Omid is a senior cyber security advisor and leader with substantial experience leading cyber security initiatives across commercial and government industries. He holds Global Head of Cyber Security Practice and Managing Director roles at Palantir Technologies. Omid has spent over a decade in the financial services and technology sectors designing and implementing strategies focused on threat intelligence and incident response. He has also held an external doctoral research supervisor role at Kingston University and contributed to multiple security communities in Europe, including ENISA on cyber security best practices and research schemes.

Ruth Margolies Beitler is a Professor of Comparative Politics in the Department of Social Sciences at the United States Military Academy, West Point, where she serves as course director for Comparative Politics, Middle East Politics, and Cultural and Political Anthropology. She has been the director of the Conflict and Human Security Studies Program (CHSS) since its inception in 2006. She is author of four books: Women and the Military: Global Lives in Focus, published by ABC-CLIO, 2021; Women’s Roles in the Middle East and North Africa (coauthored) published by Greenwood Press, 2010; The Fight for Legitimacy: Democracy vs. Terrorism (coauthored) published by Praeger in 2006; and The Path to Mass Rebellion: An Analysis of Two Intifadas published by Lexington Press in 2004. She is the author of numerous book chapters and articles. A graduate of Cornell University with a BA in Near Eastern Studies, Dr. Beitler holds a Master of Arts of Law and Diplomacy from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University, where she also received her Ph.D. in International Relations/Middle East Politics. She has lived and traveled extensively in the Middle East.

Safwan M. Masri is Dean of Georgetown University in Qatar and Distinguished Professor of the Practice at Georgetown’s Walsh School of Foreign Service.  Prior to joining Georgetown, Professor Masri was Executive Vice President for Global Centers and Global Development at Columbia University, and a Senior Research Scholar at Columbia’s School of International and Public Affairs. He joined Columbia University in 1988 as a member of the faculty of Columbia Business School, and served as Vice Dean from 1993-2005. He previously taught engineering at Stanford University and was a visiting professor at INSEAD (Institut Européend’Administration des Affaires) in France. Masri is the author of Tunisia: An Arab Anomaly (Columbia University Press, 2017). He is a lifetime member of the Council on Foreign Relations and an honorary fellow of the Foreign Policy Association. Masri is also a trustee of International College, serves as a director of AMIDEAST and Endeavor Jordan. He was founding chairman of King’s Academy and the Queen Rania Teacher Academy, and served as an advisor to Her Majesty Queen Rania Al Abdullah.

Ambassador Thomas Greminger served as Secretary General of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) from July 2017 until July 2020. On May 1, 2021, he took over as Executive Director of the Geneva Centre for Security Policy (GCSP).  As Secretary General, he acted as an effective crisis manager supporting successive Chairmanships in an increasingly polarized environment. In the final months of his term, he dealt with the COVID-19 crisis, working to protect the health and safety of staff while ensuring that the OSCE continued to carry out its critical mandates and maintained business continuity.  Despite the highly polarized political climate, Ambassador Greminger promoted dialogue among the 57 OSCE participating States as one of his key priorities. He sparked informal discussions on emerging challenges and opportunities such as the importance of technology to all dimensions of security or the link between climate change and security.

Dr. Joris Larik is Assistant Professor of Comparative, EU, and International Law at Leiden University in the Netherlands and Senior Advisor at the Stimson Center’s Global Governance, Justice & Security Program. He is an expert in EU external relations and global governance reform. In 2022, he was appointed to the Committee on European Integration of the Dutch Advisory Council on International Affairs and to the European Commission’s pool of arbitrators for disputes in the framework of bilateral trade agreements.  Dr. Larik's work has been acknowledged with several awards, including NATO’s Manfred Wörner Essay Award and the Mauro Cappelletti Prize for the Best Thesis in Comparative Law from the European University Institute. He is a former Fulbright-Schuman Scholar and Fellow at the Netherlands Institute for Advanced Study.  He is the author and editor of several books, including with Oxford and Cambridge University Press. He has published in leading international journals, including American Journal of International Law, Common Market Law Review, European Foreign Affairs Review, International & Comparative Law Quarterly, and Survival.  Dr. Larik’s international media appearances include Agence France-Presse, Al Jazeera, BBC World Service, CBC, EU Observer, The Hill, The Irish Times, Radio New Zealand, and Volkskrant.

Lise Morjé Howard is Professor of Government and Foreign Service at Georgetown University, where she teaches and conducts research on matters of war and peace. She also serves as President of the Academic Council on the UN System (ACUNS). Dr. Howard earned her A.B. in Soviet Studies from Barnard College of Columbia University, and an M.A. and Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of California, Berkeley. She studied Philology and Soviet Constitutional Law at Leningrad State/St. Petersburg State University during the collapse of the constitutional order. She has held yearlong fellowships at Stanford University, Harvard University, and the US Institute of Peace. She is the author of two award-winning books about different aspects of United Nations peacekeeping, both published by Cambridge University Press. She has conducted fieldwork in conflict zones in Africa, the Balkans, the Middle East, and Eurasia. Her scholarly articles have been published in the top scholarly and foreign policy journals such as International Organization, International Security, Foreign Affairs, and Foreign Policy. She is fluent in French and Russian. Prior to beginning graduate school, she served as Acting Director of UN Affairs for the New York City Commission for the United Nations.

Dr. David Passarelli is Director of UN University’s Center for Policy Research (UNU-CPR) which is co-located in New York and Geneva. He has overall responsibility for the direction and administration of the Centre’s research and policy advisory activities. He is a member of UN University’s Senior Management Group, and serves as UN University’s representative to the UN High-Level Committee on Programmes (HLCP).  Between 2022-2023, Dr Passarelli led the Secretariat of the UN Secretary-General’s High-Level Advisory Board on Effective Multilateralism (HLAB). His research has been commissioned by UNICEF, the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), the UN Development Coordination Office (DCO), and the UK Ministry of Defence’s Development, Concepts and Doctrine Centre (DCDC). Grants from the German Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (Norad), Canada’s International Development Research Centre (IDRC), and several philanthropic foundations have supported his work. Dr Passarelli focuses predominantly on issues of global governance, migration, strategic foresight, international development, and global finance. He holds a Doctorate in International Development from the University of Oxford. His recent publications include: • 2023. Report of the United Nations Secretary-General’s High-Level Advisory Board on Effective Multilateralism (New York: United Nations University).  • 2022. Stress-testing the UN’s regional prevention approaches (New York: United Nations University).  • 2021. Beyond Opportunism: The UN Development System’s Response to the Triple Planetary Crisis (New York: United Nations University).  • 2021. Governing Uncertainty (New York: United Nations University).