Hesham Youssef is a Senior Fellow at the United States Institute of Peace (2019- present). He was a career diplomat with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Egypt. From 2014-2019, he served as Assistant Secretary General for Humanitarian, Cultural and Social Affairs of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and completed his term in July 2019. From 2001-2014, he served as a senior official in the Arab League, as Official Spokesman and later the Chief of Staff to Secretary General Amr Moussa from 2003- 2011. From 2012-2014, Mr. Youssef was a Senior Advisor to the Secretary General of the Arab League, Dr. Nabil Elaraby, on issues pertaining to crisis management as well as the reform of the Arab League. Mr. Youssef worked extensively on conflict resolution in the Middle East and in particular the Arab Israeli conflict, reconciliation in Iraq as and other regional conflicts and issues. He wrote several papers on conflicts and developments in the Middle East.

Maruan El-Krekshi is the Head of CMI’s Middle East and North Africa programme, which includes, Libya, Palestine, Yemen, Iraq, Maghreb-Sahel. Prior to joining CMI, El-Krekshi served as a Governance Programme Officer with UNDP in Yemen for 3 years, working on elections, human rights, transparency, justice sector and civil society capacity development related projects. He has also worked for the World Food Programme, where he served as a Policy and Programme Support consultant in the Office of the Executive Director, in addition to short assignments with UNHCR and UNDP programmes in Libya. He holds a Master’s Degree in Development Studies from the University of Helsinki.

On 1 April 2022, Mr. Richard Bennett was appointed as the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Afghanistan.  Mr. Bennett has served in Afghanistan on several occasions in different capacities including as the Chief of the Human Rights Service with UNAMA. He has previously played a role in the promotion and protection of human rights in Afghanistan and supported the UN on human rights issues, such as protection of civilians, transitional justice, child rights, rule of law, rights of people with disabilities, protection of human rights defenders and economic, social and cultural rights.  Mr. Bennett served with the UN as the Representative of OHCHR and head of the human rights components of peacekeeping operations in Sierra Leone, Timor-Leste, and South Sudan, as well as twice in Afghanistan (2003-07; 2018-19). He has been a long-term adviser to the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission.  Mr. Bennett was the Representative of OHCHR and head of OHCHR’s office in Nepal (2007-10), as well as Chief of Staff for the UN Secretary-General’s Panel of Experts on Sri Lanka and Special Adviser to the Assistant Secretary General for Human Rights in New York.  Mr. Bennett worked for Amnesty International (2014–17) as its Asia-Pacific Program Director and later as head of Amnesty’s UN Office in New York. From mid-2019, he worked as a consultant on UN human rights assignments in Afghanistan, Myanmar and New York.  Mr. Bennett is currently a visiting professor at the Raoul Wallenberg Institute in Lund, Sweden.

Since May 2020 Dr. Canan Atilgan the Middle East and North Africa department in the Department of European and International Cooperation. Prior to this, she was head of the Regional Political Dialogue Southern Mediterranean Regional Programme for four years and the South Caucasus Regional Programme in Tbilisi from 2011 to 2015 and the South Caucasus Regional Programme in Tbilisi from 2011. Her stations in the Konrad Adenauer Foundation also included office management in Thailand, the Palestinian territories and Jordan. Between 2005 and 2007 she was coordinator for European policy at the foundation headquarters in Berlin. She holds a PhD in Political Science with a focus on international relations.

Alex Thier is CEO of Lapis, a leading education, media, and communications company working across South and Central Asia, the Middle East, and North and East Africa. Alex was appointed by President Obama as Chief of Policy, Planning, and Learning at the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and as the senior official in charge of assistance to Afghanistan and Pakistan. In these roles, he coordinated policy on key priorities including sustainable development, technology and innovation, climate change and renewable energy, gender equality and economic empowerment, development finance, and democracy and governance. Alex managed 1000+ staff with over $10 billion in programs and oversaw the creation of the largest-ever U.S. investment in women’s empowerment and the first-ever U.S. Strategy to End Extreme Poverty. Alex previously served as Executive Director of the Overseas Development Institute (ODI) in London, a preeminent global think tank with programs and over 500 staff, fellows, and associates in 40 countries, and as CEO of a $100m+ global anti-trafficking fund. He was Co-Director of the bi-partisan Task Force on U.S. Strategy to Promote Democracy and Counter Authoritarianism, and has held appointments at Stanford University, Freedom House, the US Institute of Peace, and the United Nations.

Dr. Arnoldo André is the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Worship of the Republic of Costa Rica. He holds a Doctorate in Law from the University of Hamburg, Germany. Previously, he served as a professor of International Law at the University of Costa Rica. Between 2010 and 2013, he held the position of President at the Costa Rican Chamber of Commerce, and from 1997 to 2022, he acted as the Honorary Consul of Norway in Costa Rica. He is also an attorney and a founding partner of Lexincorp Costa Rica. Dr. Arnoldo André's extensive background spans academia, law, and diplomatic roles, showcasing a breadth of experience in international relations, commerce, and legal practice. His contributions as an educator and a key figure in various organizations highlight his dedication to fostering relationships between countries and promoting legal expertise in Costa Rica and beyond.

Amb, Sani Bala did his NYSC in Imo State from July 1979 - July 1980 and in August of that year, joined the Ministry of External Affairs Lagos. While at headquarters he served in various departments and units beginning with Protocol Dept., (Liaison officer State House Marina, Lagos); Nigeria Pilgrims Board; Discipline Section; Inter African Affairs; Appointment, promotion and Establishment Div (APED); Consular and Immigration Dept; Middle East Division and office of the Hon. Minister of State for Foreign Affairs as Special Assistant from the Ministry and worked with five (5) different Ministers of State in that capacity (Amb. Zakari Ibrahim,Alhaji Saidu Isa, Chief Anthony Ani, Alhaji Hassan Paki and Alhaji Samaila Sambawa). From January, 1995 – December, 1996 Amb. Sani Bala served as an Honourable Commissioner and member of the Katsina State Executive Council on leave of absence on ground of Public Policy. He served as Hon. Commissioner for Trade and Commerce and latter was moved to the Ministry of Health, Social Development, Youth and Sports He also served in several Nigerian diplomatic and Consular missions abroad, between 1982- 86, Nigerian Embassy, Jeddah and later to the Consulate when the Embassy moved to Riyadh; 1988 – 92, Nigerian Embassy Cairo, Egypt as Counsellor and Head of Chancery; Sept,1997- Oct, 1998 Charge d'Affairs  At the Nigerian Embassy Dakar, Senegal; 1998-2001 Minister Counsellor and Head of Chancery in Nigerian Embassy Accra, Ghana; Jan, 2007- June,2008 Appointed Charge d'Affaires ENTITRE of Nigerian Embassy Tunis, Tunisia; June 2008 Appointed Consul General of Nigeria in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia; December, 2011 Appointed Ambassador of Nigeria and on 12th June 2012 H.E. President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan presented Ambassador Sani Bala with his letters of credence as Nigeria's first Ambassador to the State of Qatar. Shortly after, in October 2012 Amb. Bala was appointed a Federal Permanent Secretary after successfully passing the rigorous selection examination and interview.  He was posted to the Federal Civil Service Commission (FCSC) and on 24th August, 2013 he was redeployed to the Federal Ministry of Health where he retired on 15thApril, 2014 on the attainment of the mandatory retirement age of 60 years. The next day he started working for the former Chairman of PDP, H.E. Ahmadu Adamu Mu'azu as his Principal Secretary and retired from that post on 20th March, 2015. In February 2018, he joined the savannah Centre for Diplomacy, Democracy and Development (SCDDD), a NGO founded by Professor Ibrahim Gambari, the immediate past Chief of Staff to President Muhammadu Buhari. In june 2020, Amb. Bala was appointed the Executive director of the Centre. A position he has been occupying to date.

Thomas West serves as the State Department’s Special Representative and Deputy Assistant Secretary for Afghanistan. In prior roles in government, he served as Special Advisor to the Vice President for South Asia and Director for Afghanistan and Pakistan at the National Security Council from 2012-2015. From 2011-2012, Tom was the State Department’s senior diplomat in Kunar Province, Afghanistan, where he embedded with U.S. military colleagues and managed the civilian staff of a Provincial Reconstruction Team. From 2008-10, Tom served as Special Assistant for South and Central Asia to the Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs, focusing on growing the U.S.-India strategic partnership. Early in his career, Tom was a political officer at U.S. Embassy Islamabad and Pakistan desk officer in Washington. Before rejoining government in January 2021, Tom was a Vice President at The Cohen Group, a global strategic advisory firm, and a non-resident scholar at The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. A native of State College, Pennsylvania, Tom earned an M.A. in International Relations from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies and a B.A. in International Studies from Johns Hopkins University.

Samman J. Thapa is the Regional Adviser for Social Policy and Social Protection at UNICEF’s Middle East and North Africa Regional Office. In this function, he is responsible for technical leadership of UNICEF's agenda on Child Poverty, Social Protection and Social Sector Financing covering 20 countries in the Middle East and North Africa. He has previously worked in this area with UNICEF in Cambodia, Myanmar, Thailand and Viet Nam over the last 15 years. He has also worked briefly with UNDP and the National Democratic Institute focusing on governnance issues.

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres announced on 1 April 2021 the appointment of Joanna Wronecka of Poland as his new Special Coordinator for Lebanon, United Nations Office of the Special Coordinator for Lebanon (UNSCOL).  Ms. Wronecka succeeds Ján Kubiš of the Slovak Republic to whom the Secretary-General is grateful for his commitment and leadership.  Ms. Wronecka brings over 25 years of experience in diplomacy, international security and Middle East affairs, serving since 2017 as the Permanent Representative of Poland to the United Nations, including during Poland’s membership in the Security Council (2018-2019), and as Under Secretary of State for Arab and African countries, development cooperation and Polish-United Nations relations at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Poland (2015-2017).  She previously served as Head of the European Union Delegation to Jordan (2011-2015), Ambassador of Poland to Morocco (2005-2010) and Egypt (1999-2003) as well as non-resident Ambassador of Poland to Mauritania (2006-2010) and Sudan (2000-2003). Ms. Wronecka further served as the Director of the Secretariat of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Poland (2003-2005), Director of the Africa and Middle East Department (1998-1999) and Deputy Director of the United Nations Department at the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs (1996-1998).   She holds a Ph.D. in Arabic philosophy and a master’s degree in Arabic philology from the University of Warsaw, and conducted research on Middle East and Islamic affairs at the Centre d’Etudes et de Documentation Economique et Juridique in Cairo and at the Polish Academy of Sciences. She is fluent in Arabic, English, French and Polish.

Melissa Bell is a correspondent for CNN based in the network’s Paris bureau, covering European and global news.  Most recently her work has focused on the war in Ukraine, reporting, over much of the last year, from inside the country and from Moscow. Her month’s long investigation with exclusive footage and access to a former Wagner commander revealed the dissatisfaction and demoralization even within Moscow’s elite fighting force. Her recent reports also include the first media access to the frontlines of the Ukrainian counteroffensive in the town of Kupiansk in the Kharkiv region, as the first images emerged of Ukrainian flags being raised once again.  She also travelled to the Georgia-Russia border to document the exodus of tens of thousand of men fleeing Russia and President Vladimir Putin’s military draft.  In September 2021, Bell reported from Haiti where she exclusively interviewed Prime Minister Ariel Henry about the former President Jovenel Moise’s assassination and the migrant crisis. Her work in the region was nominated for Outstanding Live Breaking News Coverage at the News Emmys.  She has also contributed to CNN’s major breaking news coverage of the French presidential elections of 2017 and 2022, the Covid-19 pandemic, the rise of European anti-Semitism due to lockdown, Brexit, the fire at Notre Dame cathedral, the migrant crisis, wildfires and the climate crisis in France and Belgium.  Bell joined CNN in October 2016 from France 24, where she was a political editor before being promoted to international affairs editor and correspondent. She has extensive knowledge of Africa and the Arab world and has covered most major news story for the network’s French and English-speaking channels, from the Haitian earthquake to Egyptian revolution and the war in Mali.  Beginning her career as a journalist in 1996, Bell worked for news wires before joining Granada Television in Manchester in 1999. She then moved to the BBC as a political reporter, where she covered Westminster for seven years.  Bell has a degree in politics from Warwick University and speaks French and English fluently.

In May 2023, the Global Fund Board announced the appointment of Lady Roslyn Morauta and Bience Gawanas as the Chair and Vice-Chair of the Global Fund Board for the 2023-2026 term. Lady Roslyn Morauta took up office as Chair of the Global Fund Board in May 2023. She has deep experience with the Global Fund for many years and from multiple facets: in addition to serving as Vice-Chair of the Board for the last four years, she has also represented the Western Pacific Region constituency as Alternate Board Member and served as Chair of the Papua New Guinea Country Coordinating Mechanism. She has been a long-standing and steadfast champion of health, HIV programs and gender issues. Her role in the Country Coordinating Mechanism has given her close understanding of Global Fund strategies and processes, the working of the Secretariat, and the practical implementation of grants at country level. Lady Roslyn has lived and worked in Papua New Guinea since 1982. Prior to that, she worked in publishing in England, taught Politics at the University of Ghana, the Australian National University and Queensland University, and worked as a research officer in the Defence Department in Canberra and for the Australian Social Welfare Commission.  

Amjad Atallah is managing director of Doha Debates. Amjad previously served in senior editorial and management roles at Al Jazeera English, as bureau chief for the Americas, and at Al Jazeera America as editor-in-chief. He was previously an editor of the Middle East Channel at ForeignPolicy.com. Before that, Amjad worked on human rights causes as a legal advisor and policy expert, focusing on Bosnia and Herzegovina, Palestine and Israel, Darfur and violence against women in wartime. He is also the co-founder and International Board Chair of Women for Women International, a peer-to-peer women’s support organization aiding women survivors of war throughout conflict zones around the world.

Dr. Wu Bingbing is Director of Center for Middle Eastern Studies at Peking University (PKU-CMES), Senior Research Fellow of Institute for International and Strategic Studies, Peking University (IISS-PKU), Director of Department of Arabic Language and Cultures at PKU, as well as State of Qatar Chair Professor in Middle Eastern Studies at Peking University. He received his PhD in Middle Eastern Studies at Peking University in 2003. His research interests focus on politics of contemporary Middle East, China-Middle East relations, Shi’i Islam and Iran studies. He is the author of The Rise of the Modern Shi’i Islamism (CASS Press, 2004) and editor of The Belt and Road Initiative: Cases of Practice and Risk Control in Cultural Affairs (Ocean Press, 2017), and also published a number of academic articles. He is currently a board member of China-Arab Friendship Association, China-Iran Friendship Association, and Chinese Society of Middle Eastern Studies.

Leslie A. Pal is Founding Dean of the College of Public Policy at Hamad Bin Khalifa University, Doha, Qatar. He is the author, co-author or editor of over thirty books, the most recent of which are Informing Action: Higher Education Countering Violent Extremism (2021), The Future of the Policy Sciences (2021), Global Governance and Muslim Organizations (2019), Policy Transfer: Micro- Dynamics and Macro-Effects (2017), Policy Making in a Transformative State: The Case of Qatar (2016), Frontiers of Governance: The OECD and Global Public Management Reform (2012), and Beyond Policy Analysis: Public Issue Management in Turbulent Times (6th edition, 2020). He has published over ninety articles and book chapters in a wide variety of areas of public policy and administration, and international public management reform. His articles have appeared in the journals Governance, Policy Sciences, Journal of Comparative Policy Analysis, Canadian Political Science Review, Political Studies Review, and Policy and Society. He was the Executive Editor of the Journal of Comparative Policy Analysis from 2015-2020, and is currently a member of the editorial boards of the International Review of Public Policy and the Journal of Economic Policy Reform. In January 2020 he was elected as one of the Vice- Presidents of the International Public Policy Association, and in 2022 as the Treasurer of IPPA. He is also on the Board of the Association for Middle Eastern Public Policy and Administration (AMEPPA). He has served as a consultant to the Open Society Foundations, the World Bank and the OECD, as well as several other international organizations.

Rula is a Palestinian woman human rights advocate and defender. Rula obtains two Master's degrees in human rights and international law in armed conflict. Rula has over 15 years of work experience in the field of human rights, refugee law, mobilization and advocacy. Before joining PIPD she was working at Al-Haq as head of Monitoring and Documentation department, before that Rula worked for five years with the Swedish Migration Agency as a senior analyst on migration, preceded by heading the Protection Department with UNHCR/in Iraq and Kuwait. Rula has extensive networks throughout Europe as she used to be active with Palestinian grassroot movements during her years in Europe.   In her role as Program and Advocacy Director at PIPD, Rula will focus on advocacy efforts including shaping PIPD's strategic direction and to increase PIPD's engagement with the Palestinian liberation movement in general, experts and activists alike.

Victor Zhikai GAO is Chairman of China Energy Security Institute; Chair Professor of Soochow University; Vice President of CCG; and Chairman of Yale Law School Association of China.  Victor Gao has extensive experience in government, diplomacy, securities regulation, legal, investment banking, PE, corporate management and media, and was Deng Xiaoping’s English interpreter in the 1980s. Victor served as the China Policy Advisor at the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission; and worked with Morgan Stanley, CICC and Daiwa Securities in the banking sector. Victor also held senior positions with CNOOC Limited as its Senior Vice President, General Counsel, Company Secretary, Member of the Investment Committee, and Director of CNOOC International.   Victor holds a J.D. from Yale Law School.

Sawsan chebli has served as State Secretary for Civic Engagement and International Relations from 2016-2021. She is a longtime and experienced foreign policy expert, having worked as the spokesperson to former German Foreign Minister and now president Frank-Walter Steinmeier and foreign policy adviser in the parliament to the Social Democratic Party, which she is a member of. Sawsan further is a member of and actively participates in many high-profile think tanks, such as the Koerber Foundation's Foreign Policy Network and Young Leader of the Munich Security Conference. Showing specific interest in promoting young people's engagement in foreign policy, Sawsan co-founded the Young Professional Chapter at the German Council on Foreign Relations. Apart from that, Sawsan is also a member of the Global Citizen Europe Board of Directors and a member of the Apolitical Foundation Global Advisor Network. Sawsan's wide range of expertise spans from identity politics, majority-minority relations, Islam and muslims in Western countries to racism, anti-semitism, and discrimination against minorities as well as international relations and security issues. As a social media influencer herself, Sawsan has experienced sexism, hate speech and digital violence against women, which is why she is so keen on being a strong voice for women's rights.In her role as CFFP Advisory Council member she will thus be particularly focusing on antifeminism in right-wing circles.

Ambassador Gabriel Munuera Viñals is an EU career diplomat. He has an extensive experience in the Middle East and North Africa region, EU Headquarters and in various diplomatic postings overseas. Prior to this appointment, Gabriel served as Head of Division for the Arabian Peninsula, Iraq and Regional Policies at the European External Action Service (EEAS). He served as Deputy Head of EU Delegation to Turkey, First Counsellor at the EU Delegation to Egypt, Desk officer for India, Head of the Economic, Political and Public Affairs Section of the EC/EU Delegation to the Philippines. Earlier in his career, he worked in the Americas Division of the Department of Political Affair, UN Secretariat in New York, as Political Affairs Officer; and as Research Fellow at the Western European Union Institute for Security Studies in Paris. 

Hadi Al-Bahra was born in Damascus in 1959. He obtained a degree in Industrial engineering from Wichita State University, Kansas, United States.  Al-Bahra used his experience in communications to serve the Syrian revolution from its inception in 2011. He co-founded groups for bolstering and coordinating communication between activists inside Syria and media outlets. He has also been involved in a number of political, media, and humanitarian relief activities.

Farea Al-Muslimi is a research fellow at Chatham House’s Middle East and North Africa Programme. His research focuses on Yemen and the wider Gulf region.  Prior to joining Chatham House, he was a non-resident fellow at Carnegie Middle East Center and the Middle East Institute in Washington, also working at the National Democratic Institute (NDI), Beyond Reforms and Development, and Resonate! Yemen. He co-founded the Sana’a Center for Strategic Studies in 2014, serving as its first chairperson until 2022, and growing the organization into Yemen’s premier think-tank.

Associate professor and founding director of the program of social policy and program evaluation (PROSPER) at the College of Public Policy at Hamad Bin Khalifa University

Mehdi Hasan is an award-winning British-American host and analyst for MSNBC in Washington DC and the author of the New York Times best-selling book ‘Win Every Argument’

Wadih Al-Asmar is a human rights activist from Lebanon. He is the co-founder and President of the CLDH (Lebanese center for human rights) and Board member of the FEMED (euro-Mediterranean federation against enforced disappearance) ¹². He was elected as the President of EuroMed Rights in 2018 for a three-year mandate, renewed in 2021. Wadih has actively participated in the drafting of several laws related to Human Rights in Lebanon, such as the draft Law on the criminalization of torture, on the creation of the National Human Rights Institution and the Law 105 in Lebanon on the Missing and Forcibly Disappeared especially on the part related to the fight against impunity.

Lama Fakih is Human Rights Watch’s Middle East and North Africa director and the director of the Beirut office. Prior to her current role, Fakih was the Director of the Crisis and Conflict Division from October 2019 through February 2022 and the Deputy Director of the Middle East and North Africa Division from September 2016 through September 2019. She was a Senior Crisis Advisor in Amnesty International’s Crisis Response Program and was Human Rights Watch’s Syria and Lebanon researcher from 2011 to 2015.Previously, she worked as the Gender, Human Rights, and Counter-Terrorism Fellow at the Center for Human Rights and Global Justice (CHRGJ) at the New York University School of Law. In 2008 to 2009 she was the Center Fellow at CHRGJ, where she worked on a range of human rights issues including corporate accountability and human rights and counter-terrorism. Additionally, Fakih was awarded a Fulbright Fellowship to conduct research on the implementation of Islamic law in the Egyptian National Courts.Fakih holds a bachelor’s degree from Sarah Lawrence College and a law degree from New York University, where she was awarded the Ann Petluck Poses Memorial Prize for her work in the university’s International Human Rights Clinic. She speaks English and Arabic.

Iris Luarasi PhD. is the director of Counselling Line for Women (CLWG) that is the National Helpline for victims of GBV in Albania. Since 2018, she is leading the Center for Security and Peace Albania, under the umbrella of CLWG that is working in P/CVE and R&R in designing and implementing innovative programmes that engage communities, direct beneficiaries (RFTF) as well as local and national institutions with the support of GCERF. The Center has established the first info call centre on countering violent extremism in Albania. Luarasi is currently a member of SEE Network for Women Professionals on P/CVERLT established from OSCE. Dr. Luarasi also leads the first male centre in Albania – Counselling Line for Men and Boys, that tries to rehabilitate perpetrators of domestic violence inside prison system and probation services and works on prevention with young boys in the country and fatherhood campaigns. Till mid of 2023 Luarasi was the President of GREVIO (a monitoring committee at CoE), while in 2022 she was chairing the Platform of Independent Expert Mechanisms on Discrimination and Violence against Women (EDVAW Platform) that gathers seven United Nations and regional independent expert mechanisms on violence against women and women’s rights operating at the international and regional levels, including GREVIO. She is also a board member of WWP European Network and a member of the Steering Committee of The High-Level Advisory Group (HLAG) at OSCE. Recognized for her achievements, Dr. Luarasi has received two awards in investigative media. As a professor at the Department of Journalism at Tirana University, she passionately imparts her knowledge to Albanian journalists, focusing on human rights, journalism ethics, and combating fake news, hate speech, and sexism. A respected opinion-maker, she frequently contributes to TV panels discussing human rights and current affairs.

Marieke Wierda is a Dutch diplomat and lawyer, born and raised in Yemen and educated in the UK and the US, and specialized in rule of law, international criminal law, and transitional justice. Currently she is the Deputy Ambassador for The Netherlands to Yemen, so is serving in the country of her birth. Previously she was the rule of law coordinator at the Dutch Ministry for Foreign Affairs, since 2015. Dr. Wierda has 20 years of experience in international relations, development cooperation and justice issues, with the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the United Nations (International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, United Nations Support Mission in Libya), and NGOs (International Center for Transitional Justice). She is the author of many book chapters and articles on international criminal law and transitional justice. She completed her PhD in international criminal law on the Impact of the International Criminal Court in Situation Countries (Leiden University, 2019).

Mr. Konaković was born in Sarajevo in 1974. He obtained a Master of Arts degree in Sports Management from the University of Sarajevo, Faculty of Sport and Physical Education. Mr. Konaković is fluent in English, Italian and Romanian. Professional career in sports:As a professional basketball player he performed in Bosnia and Herzegovina and abroad. He was a player and team captain of the „Bosna“ Basketball Club from Sarajevo and continued his international sports career performing for clubs from Slovenia, Italy, Hungary and Romania.In 2002, he was appointed manager of the Bosnia and Herzegovina Men National Basketball Team and between 2003 and 2007 he managed the „Bosna“ Basketball Club. From 2013 to 2016 Mr. Konaković was president of the Management Board of the Basketball Association of Bosnia and Herzegovina.Political career:Mr. Konaković became politically engaged in 2004. He was elected in the Municipal Council of the Centar Sarajevo Municipality. In the period 2010 to 2014 he was elected representative in the Sarajevo Canton Assembly. In the period from 2018 to 2022 he was both - Sarajevo Canton Assembly representative (Chairman of the Assembly) and a delegate in the House of Peoples, Parliament of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Between 2015 and 2018, Mr Konaković served as the Prime Minister of the Canton Sarajevo.In 2018 he founded the political party People and Justice (Narod i Pravda) and was elected as the Party President at the Founding Assembly in March 2018. His mandate was confirmed in November 2021 at the Party's First Congress.At the General Elections 2022 in Bosnia and Herzegovina he was elected to the House of Representatives of the Parliament of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina.Mr. Konaković assumed the office of Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bosnia and Herzegovina on January, 26 2023.

Rangina Hamidi is an Afghan American writer, educator, social entrepreneur, and politician who served as Afghanistan’s minister of education until August 2021. She was the first cabinet-level, female minister of education to hold that position in thirty years. Ms. Hamidi works tirelessly to advocate for women’s rights by empowering girls and women through social entrepreneurship and education initiatives to build their lives.Ms. Hamidi is well-versed in pedagogy, child development, and psychology and led the Mezan International School, a private institution, as its first principal. The school’s progressive international curriculum garnered praise for its solid foundation of Islamic education, Afghan values and history studies. These accomplishments led the president of Afghanistan to ask her to bring her innovative approach to education as education minister. Currently, Ms. Hamidi is a professor of practice with Thunderbird School of Global Management at Arizona State University and resides in Dubai, UAE.She has contributed to numerous publications, radio programs and podcasts. Ms. Hamidi has co-authored “Embroidering within Boundaries: Afghan Women Creating a Future," which takes the reader on a pictorial journey into the stories of the courageous Afghan women she continues to serve.

Ambassador Dr Husam S. Zomlot is the Head of the Palestinian Mission to the United Kingdom. Prior to his appointment to the UK, Dr Zomlot served as Ambassador to the United States (Head of the PLO General Delegation to the United States), and Strategic Affairs Advisor to the Palestinian President. Dr Zomlot’s previous official roles include serving as Ambassador –at-large for the Palestinian Presidency and Director of Fatah Foreign Relations Commission. Dr Zomlot holds a PhD in economics from the University of London, was a professor of strategy and Public Policy at Birzeit University, where he co-founded and chaired Birzeit school of Government, and held a number of teaching and research positions at Harvard University and University of London. His professional experiences include working as an economist at the United Nations and Economic Researcher with London School of Economics and the Palestine Policy Research Institute.

Dr Gerhard Conrad holds a Ph.D. in Oriental Studies, International Politics and International Law from Bonn University/Germany. Apart from scientific achievements and expertise in defence intelligence gathered at the Federal Ministry of Defence between 1980 and 2005, he served for 30 years in the German Federal Intelligence Service (BND). He was involved in secret humanitarian mediation missions on behalf of United Nations Secretary- Generals Kofi Annan, Ban Ki-moon (2006-2008) and conflict parties in the Middle East (2002-2004, 2009-2011). He served as chief of staff for BND-presidents Uhrlau and Schindler (2009-2012) and as chief of the BND-station in London (2012-2015). In 2016, he was appointed Director of the EU Intelligence Analysis and Situation Centre (EU INTCEN). After his retirement in 2019, Dr Conrad has been teaching intelligence and politics within the Master Program for Intelligence and Security Studies (MISS) at the Federal University for Administrative Sciences in Berlin. In addition, he is visiting professor at King’s College, London, and teaches at Sciences Po, Paris. He is intelligence advisor for the Munich Security Conference, an Advisory Board member of the Counter Extremism Project CEP (www.counterextremism.com) and board member in the Forum Intelligence Services in Germany (www.gknd.org).

Rosalind Nyawira is a legal and security expert with over twenty years experience in countering terrorism and preventing violent extremism. She is a specialist in international terrorism, and most recently has been engaged in preventing and countering violent extremism (P\CVE). She has excelled in counter-terrorism theory and practice. She is the Director of the National Counter Terrorism Centre , a multi-agency body charged by law with the role of coordinating CT efforts in all of government and leading de-radicalisation efforts and also the coordination centre for all bilateral and multilateral efforts at preventing violent extremism. She also guides policy and legal framework on preventing and countering violent extremism (P/CVE), undertakes research to identify vulnerable populations, liaises with international players in identifying knowledge gaps and providing tailor-made solutions, exchanges with foreign partners on best CT practices and represents Kenya in international CT fora.She has wide experience formulating the National Counter-Terrorism Strategy and the National Strategy for Countering Violent Extremism and the bi-annual review, generating training programmes and offering training for government officers on the threat of terrorism, and guiding law and policy on terrorism mattersShe is the former head of the Joint Counter-Terrorism Analysis Centre. She is also an adjunct lecturer at the National Defence University, Kenya. She is also an advocate of the High Court of Kenya and is widely published widely in the field of law and terrorism.

Alexander Radwan was born in Munich in 1964, the son of an Egyptian father and a German mother. After graduating as an engineer in 1987, he pursued legal studies and was admitted to the bar in 1995. His political career began with his tenure as a Member of the European Parliament from 1999 to 2008, followed by a term in the Bavarian State Parliament from 2008 to 2013. Mr. Radwan was elected to the German Bundestag in the 2013 general elections and was re-elected in 2017 and 2021. In his legislative roles, Mr. Radwan has been active on the Finance Committee and the Foreign Affairs Committee. Currently, he serves on the European Affairs Committee and the Foreign Affairs Committee. In the latter, he focuses on the regions of China, Japan, and the Middle East, bringing his extensive political experience to inform his contributions in these areas of international relations.

Ambassador Michael (Mike) Hammer was named the United States Special Envoy for the Horn of Africa on June 1, 2022. His most recent assignment abroad was as the U.S. ambassador to the Democratic Republic of the Congo from 2018-2022.During his over three decades of service, Ambassador Hammer has served as Acting Senior Vice President of the National Defense University. He served as U.S. ambassador to Chile from 2014-2016. Prior to his appointment in Chile, Ambassador Hammer served as Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs. Before joining the Bureau of Public Affairs, Ambassador Hammer served at the White House as Special Assistant to the President, Senior Director for Press and Communications, and National Security Council Spokesperson from January 2009 to January 2011. He previously served at the National Security Council as Deputy Spokesperson from 1999 to 2000 and as the Director of Andean Affairs from 2000 to 2001.Ambassador Hammer’s overseas postings include Bolivia, Norway, Iceland, and Denmark.Ambassador Hammer earned a Bachelor’s degree from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service. He has a Master’s degrees from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University and from the National War College at the National Defense University.

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres announced on 7 October 2022 the appointment of Guy Ryder of the United Kingdom as Under-Secretary-General for Policy in his Executive Office. He will succeed Volker Türk of Austria who has been appointed as United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. Mr. Ryder was most recently Director-General of the International Labour Organization (ILO) in Geneva after serving two successive terms since October 2012. He first joined the ILO in 1998 as Director of the Bureau for Workers’ Activities and from 1999, served as Director of the Office of the Director-General. Mr. Ryder started his professional career in 1981 as an assistant at the International Department of the Trades Union Congress in London. From 1985, he held the position of Secretary of the Industry Trade Section of the International Federation of Commercial, Clerical, Professional and Technical Employees (FIET) in Geneva. In 1988, he became Assistant Director and – from 1993 - Director of the Geneva office of the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU). In 2002, he was appointed General Secretary of the ICFTU and was elected as the first General Secretary of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) when it was created in 2006. He returned to the ILO in 2010 as Executive Director, responsible for international labour standards and fundamental principles and rights at work. Mr. Ryder studied Social and Political Sciences at the University of Cambridge and Latin American Studies at the University of Liverpool. He speaks English, French and Spanish.

Born in Atyrau city on November 14, 1983Education2000 – 2006, Tomsk State University, Finance and Credit, Linguistics and Intercultural Communication2008 – 2010, University of Michigan, Master in Applied EconomicsHolder of the Presidential Bolashak International ScholarshipA member of the Presidential Youth Personnel Reserve 1.0.Language proficiencyKazakh, English, Spanish, German and RussianAcquired certificates and awardsDipIFR (IFRS) by ACCA, Professional Accountant“Eren enbegi ushin” (for outstanding service) and several jubilee medalsCareerCAREER BACKGROUNDSeptember 2005 – February 2006, Leading Specialist of the Department of Internal Administration Department, and the Department of International Relations, Ministry of Economy and Budget Planning, Republic of Kazakhstan.In 2007 completed an internship at the Ministry of Finance, Japan.February 2006 – October 2010, Expert, chief expert of the Investment Policy and Planning Department, Ministry of Economy and Budget Planning and the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade, Republic of Kazakhstan.November 2010 - Head of the Strategic Development Division of the Strategic Planning and Analysis Department, Ministry of Economic Development and Trade, Republic of Kazakhstan.November 2010 – February 2013, Deputy Director of the Department of Budget Policy and Planning, Ministry of Finance, Republic of Kazakhstan.February – June 2013, Deputy Chairman of the Committee for Geology and Subsoil Use, Ministry of Industry and New Technologies, Republic of Kazakhstan.June 2013 – April 2019, Deputy Head of the Center for Strategic Research and Analysis and Deputy Head of the Department of Socio-Economic Monitoring, Executive Office of the President, Republic of Kazakhstan.April 2019 – February 2021, Deputy Head of the Division, Office of the First President – Elbasy, Republic of Kazakhstan.February 2021 – January 2022, Vice-Minister of National Economy, Republic of Kazakhstan.Since January 2022 - Minister of National Economy, Republic of Kazakhstan.