The Board: A Personal Commitment
to Making a Difference

Kofi Annan served as the seventh Secretary-General of the United Nations from 1997 until 2006. Mr. Annan was co-recipient, with the United Nations (UN), of the 2001 Nobel Peace Prize. During his tenure as Secretary-General, Mr. Annan was involved in a range of humanitarian affairs and addressed priority issues including the fight against HIV/AIDS, the establishment of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), and the promotion of human rights and the rule of law. He also initiated a number of far reaching reforms of the UN system and sought to strengthen ties with civil society, the private sector and other partners. Kofi Annan’s 40-year career with the UN started with an appointment at the World Health Organization, and included a position with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees and positions as UN Assistant-Secretary-General for Human Resources Management and Security, and Programme Planning, Budget and Finance. Mr. Annan also served as Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations. He studied economics in Ghana and the USA, and undertook graduate studies at the Graduate Institute of International Studies (HEI), Switzerland, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Sloan School of Management, USA.

• Video Statement on the Global Humanitarian Forum
• Video Statement on the Annual Meeting 2008
• UN-Biography of Kofi Annan
• The Elders

Ivan Pictet is currently senior partner at Pictet & Cie. The Pictet Group is a European leader in private and institutional asset management, as well as in fund management and distribution. Mr. Pictet is active in many roles in public life, including as President of the Fondation Genève Place Financière, as a Board member of the Fondation pour Genève and as a member of the Investment Committee of the United Nations Joint Staff Pension Fund. He is a supporter of the Center for Family Business at the University of St. Gallen, Switzerland, and a co-sponsor of the Institute for Family Enterprises at Witten/Herdecke University, Germany. Mr. Pictet holds an MBA from the Business School of Administration of the University of St. Gallen, Switzerland, and worked for Morgan Stanley in New York before returning to Switzerland to join Pictet & Cie where he became a partner in 1982.

• Video Statement on the Global Humanitarian Forum
• Video Statement on the Annual Meeting 2008
• Pictet & Cie

Catherine Bertini is Professor of Public Administration at the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University, New York, USA. She was Executive Director of the United Nations World Food Programme from 1992 to 2002, where she emphasized the pivotal role of women in ensuring food distribution and oversaw extensive changes that were described as a model for UN reform. Prior to this, she held various positions in both the public and private sectors in the USA. Ms Bertini has received honorary degrees from ten universities, and a number of awards, including an Order of Merit of the Republic of Italy and the Prize of Excellence from the Association of Journalists. She is the 2003 World Food Prize Laureate. She holds a bachelor's degree in political science from the State University of New York at Albany, USA.

• Video Statement on the Global Humanitarian Forum
• Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs
• Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Lakhdar Brahimi is a former Algerian Minister of Foreign Affairs with wide experience in international diplomacy. He is now Professor-at-large at Cornell University and member of “The Elders” at the Institute for Advanced Studies at Princeton, a group created at the initiative of Nelson Mandela. From 1993 to the end of 2005 he was Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations and served, in particular, as Special Representative or Special Envoy of the Secretary-General in South Africa (1993–1994), Haiti (1994–1996), Afghanistan (1997–1999 and 2001–2004) and Iraq (2004). In 2004 and 2005 he acted as Special Adviser of the Secretary-General. In 2000, Lakhdar Brahimi chaired an independent panel entrusted by former Secretary-General Kofi Annan with the task of making recommendations on how the UN might improve the performance of its Peace Operations. He produced what became known as the “Brahimi report”. Lakhdar Brahimi took part in the struggle for independence of his country, Algeria. He represented its Front of National Liberation in Indonesia from 1956 to 1961. Mr. Brahimi was educated in Algeria and France specialising in law and political science.

• Cornell University
• The Elders

Michel Camdessus is Honorary Governor of the Bank of France, and was Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund from 1987 to 2000. Mr. Camdessus was a member of the Commission for Africa and is currently a member of the Africa Progress Panel. He has widely published on a broad range of topics, including proposals for reforms in France and calls for “globalization with a human face”. Mr. Camdessus also served as Chairman of the World Panel on Financing Water Infrastructure. He was educated at the University of Paris and has postgraduate degrees in economics from the Institute of Political Studies of Paris and the National School of Administration (ENA).

• Video Statement on the Global Humanitarian Forum
• IMF-Biography of Michel Camdessus

Mary Chinery-Hesse is currently the Chief Advisor to the President of the Republic of Ghana. She is also the Vice-Chairperson of the National Development Planning Commission, a member of the board of the Centre for Policy Analysis (CEPA), and a member of the Council of the University of Ghana. In 1989, Ms Chinery-Hesse was appointed as the first woman Deputy Director-General of the International Labour Organization in Geneva. Before joining the United Nations in 1981, Ms Chinery-Hesse was the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning of Ghana. She holds degrees from the University of Ghana, Trinity College, the University of Dublin, and the World Bank Institute. She was also awarded a Doctor of Laws from the University of Ghana, Accra. Mary Chinery-Hesse is recipient of the order of the star of Ghana.

• Video Statement on the Global Humanitarian Forum
• Government of Ghana, National Development Planning Commission

Jan Egeland currently serves as a Special Advisor to United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. Mr. Egeland has also recently been appointed as the new director of the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs (NUPI) and has entered this position in September 2007. Prior to these appointments, Mr. Egeland was UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator from 2003 to 2006. Earlier in his career, he served as State Secretary in the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (1990–1997). He was also Director for the International Department of the Norwegian Red Cross, Head of Development Studies at the Henry Dunant Institute, Geneva, and a radio and television international news reporter with the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation. Jan Egeland studied Political Science at the University of Oslo and was a Fulbright Scholar at the University of California, Berkeley, USA.

• UN Under-Secretary-General
• Norwegian Institute of International Affairs

Jacques Forster is currently Vice-President of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and honorary Professor of the Graduate Institute of Development Studies (IUED), Geneva. Mr. Forster was Director of IUED from 1980 to 1992 and serves as a member of the ICRC since 1988. He has recently been appointed Vice-President of the Foundation Board of the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, Geneva, which merges the Graduate Institute of International Studies (HEI) and IUED. Mr. Forster has worked for the Swiss Government as a civil servant and consultant on a range of programmes in the field of international development cooperation in Latin America and the Caribbean, Africa and South Asia. Mr. Forster holds a PhD from the University of Neuchâtel, Switzerland, and has published extensively on international development cooperation and humanitarian issues.

• International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)

Blaise Godet is currently the chief of Switzerland’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations and other international organizations in Geneva. Since joining the Swiss Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1974, Mr. Godet has represented Switzerland in a number of countries and capacities. In 1993, he was named Swiss Ambassador to Thailand, Laos, Myanmar and Cambodia, based in Bangkok. In 1997, he was appointed Ambassador to Egypt and Sudan. In 2001, he was appointed Ambassador and Head of the Political Affairs Directorate of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs. In 2006, he also took on the role of Vice-President of the newly created UN Human Rights Council. Ambassador Godet holds a degree in Law from the University of Neuchâtel, Switzerland.

• Video Statement on the Annual Meeting 2008
• Switzerland's Permanent Representations in Geneva

Goh Kee Nguan is Brigadier General with the Singapore Armed Forces, holding the position of Commander, Army Training and Doctrine Command. Mr. Goh was Commander of the 1200-strong Singapore Armed Forces Contingent in the Tsunami Relief Operations in Aceh in 2005. During this operation, he was instrumental in working with various stakeholders to provide responsive and precise humanitarian aid to the affected population. Mr. Goh has been awarded numerous decorations, amongst which the SAF Tsunami Relief Operations 2004. He graduated from the Royal Military College of Duntroon, Australia, and holds a BSc in computer programming from the University of New South-Wales and a Master in Strategic Studies from the US Army College.

• Video Statement on the Global Humanitarian Forum
• Video Statement on the Annual Meeting 2008
• Mindef Singapore

Rita Hauser is currently Chair of the International Peace Institute Board of Directors, a leading international institution dedicated to promoting the prevention and settlement of armed conflict. Dr. Hauser is also President of The Hauser Foundation. She is an international lawyer and was a senior partner for more than twenty years at the New York City law firm Stroock & Stroock & Lavan. Known for her public service and philanthropic work, she is interested in international conflict resolution, security and human rights. Dr. Hauser served on the President’s Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board from 2001 to 2004. She is Director of many organizations, including: The International Institute for Strategic Studies in London, The RAND Corporation, the International Advisory Council of The Lowy Institute for International Policy, Sydney, Australia; and the International Board, The Center for International Governance Innovation, Canada. She holds advanced degrees from the University of Strasbourg in France, Harvard and NYU Law Schools, and the University of Paris Law Faculty.

• Video Statement on the Global Humanitarian Forum
• International Peace Institute

HRH Princess Haya, the daughter of the late King Hussein bin Talal of Jordan and wife of H.H. Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates and Ruler of Dubai, was designated a UN Messenger of Peace by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon in September 2007. Princess Haya was the first woman to serve as Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations World Food Programme (2005–2007). Princess Haya established the first food aid NGO in the Arab World – known as “Tkiyet Um Ali” – founded in Jordan to provide food and social services to the poor. Princess Haya is also Chairperson of the International Humanitarian City. She is active in promoting health, education, sports and youth issues. She participated in the 2000 summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia, representing Jordan in show jumping, is a Member of the International Olympic Committee and since 2006 has served as President of the International Equestrian Federation (FEI). Princess Haya holds an honours degree in Politics, Philosophy and Economics from Oxford University, England.

• Video Statement on the Global Humanitarian Forum
• Video Statement on the Annual Meeting 2008
• The Official Website of HRH Princess Haya Bint Al Hussein

Dean Hirsch is currently President and CEO of World Vision International, a non-governmental organization that assists some 100 million people in 97 countries. He has primarily focused World Vision’s relief, development and advocacy work on children. In addition, he has worked extensively in disaster and post-conflict areas – including Somalia, Cambodia, North Korea, Ethiopia, Bosnia and Rwanda. Dean Hirsch holds a Masters of Science degree from Indiana State University and both a Bachelor of Arts and an Honorary Doctorate from Westmont College in Santa Barbara, California, USA. He has also received Honorary Doctorates from Pepperdine University, California, USA, Eastern University of Pennsylvania and Myongji University in Seoul, South Korea.

• Video Statement on the Global Humanitarian Forum
• Video Statement on the Annual Meeting 2008
• World Vision International

Alois Hirschmugl, Humanitarian Affairs Advisor to the Austrian Chief of Staff, is a Brigadier General with the Austrian Armed Forces. He has over 30 years of military experience and special expertise in the field of international military legal advisory, verification of arms control agreements, civil-military coordination and cooperation and civil emergency planning. Since 2006 he also is officiated as external legal expert for the International Criminal Court. He began his humanitarian engagement working for the Austrian Red Cross and Youth Red Cross for 10 years on a voluntary basis. Mr. Hirschmugl is a member of the United Nations Disaster Assessment and Coordination team and an emergency expert for the European Commission. He has participated in numerous missions with the United Nations and the European Commission – including Mozambique (2000), Algeria (2003), Iran (2004), Bangladesh (2004), Southeast Asia (2005), Indonesia (2006) and Albania (2008). Mr. Hirschmugl holds a Master and Doctorate degree in law. He published a handbook on legal aspects of peace support operations, humanitarian and disaster management operations.

• Video Statement on the Global Humanitarian Forum
• Video Statement on the Annual Meeting 2008
• Austrian Armed Forces
• Disaster Management Advice & Training

Hans Küng, a Swiss theologian, is President of the Global Ethic Foundation (Stiftung Weltethos). Professor Küng has published widely, including books that have generated considerable public debate such as Infallible? An inquiry (1971). In the early 1990s. Mr. Küng established the Weltethos project, which develops the idea that the religions of the world will be able to make a contribution to the peace of humankind only if they can reach an understanding of those elements of an ethic which they already have in common. Based on a concept first put forward in his book Global Responsibility (1990), the "Declaration towards a Global Ethic" was endorsed by the Parliament of the World's Religions in Chicago in 1993. Hans Küng studied theology and philosophy at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, and was professor of Ecumenical Theology at the University of Tübingen, Germany, until his retirement in 1996.

• Video Statement on the Global Humanitarian Forum
• Video Statement on the Annual Meeting 2008
• Stiftung Weltethos

Ricardo Lagos served as President of Chile from 2000 to 2006. During this time he oversaw the signing of Free Trade Agreements between Chile and the European Community, the United States of America, and South Korea, and the creation of programmes to provide national unemployment insurance and monetary compensation to victims of torture under the Pinochet regime. Following his term as President, Ricardo Lagos established a foundation called Democracia y Desarrollo (“Democracy and Development”) in Santiago. In May 2007, he was appointed by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon as Special Envoy to recommend a global response to climate change. Ricardo Lagos holds a degree in law from the Universidad de Chile, Santiago, and a PhD from Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, USA.

• Video Statement on the Global Humanitarian Forum
• Video Statement on the Annual Meeting 2008
• Foundation Democracy and Development

Rajendra K. Pachauri is the Chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which provides specialized support to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Mr. Pachauri is also Director-General of the Energy and Resources Institute, New Delhi, India, which works for the development of solutions to global problems in the fields of development, energy and the environment. Beginning his career in the railway industry, Mr. Pachauri has since taught at the Administrative Staff College of India, Hyderabad, where from 1979 to 1981 he served as Director of Consulting and Applied Research, and at the School of Forestry and Environmental Studies of Yale University, USA (2000). He was an advisor on energy and sustainable management to the United Nations Development Programme from 1994 to 1999, and since 1992 has served as President of the Asia Energy Institute. Mr. Pachauri is the author of numerous books and articles and holds PhDs in industrial engineering and in economics from the North Carolina State University, USA.

• Video Statement on the Global Humanitarian Forum
• Video Statement on the Annual Meeting 2008
• Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
• Energy and Resources Institute

Mary Robinson was the first female President of Ireland from 1990 to 1997. She also served as the second United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights from 1997 to 2002. She is currently President of Realizing Rights: The Ethical Globalization Initiative. The recipient of numerous honours and awards throughout the world, Ms Robinson is a member of the Royal Irish Academy, the American Philosophical Society and, since 2002, has been Honorary President of Oxfam International. A founding member and Chair of the Council of Women World Leaders, she serves on a number of boards, including that of the GAVI Fund. Ms Robinson studied law at Trinity College, Dublin and is Chancellor of the University of Ireland.

• Video Statement on the Global Humanitarian Forum
• Video Statement on the Annual Meeting 2008
• Realizing Rights
• The Elders

Judith Rodin has served as president of the Rockefeller Foundation since March 2005. Trained as a research psychologist, Ms. Rodin was previously the president of the University of Pennsylvania, and earlier the provost of Yale University. A pioneer in the behavioural medicine movement, she taught at New York University prior to spending 22 years on the faculty of Yale, where she ultimately held appointments in both the School of Arts and Sciences and the School of Medicine. In 1994, her appointment as president of Pennsylvania University made her the first woman to serve as the head of an Ivy League institution. Ms. Rodin serves on a number of leading non-profit boards, as well as on the boards of the AMR Corporation, Citigroup and the Comcast Corporation. She graduated from the University of Pennsylvania, and obtained her PhD from Columbia University. Ms. Rodin is a prolific author and has received nine honorary doctorate degrees.

• The Rockefeller Foundation

Jean-Louis Schiltz has been the Luxembourgish Minister for Development Cooperation since 2004. He also holds the portfolios of Defence and Communications. As Minister for Development Cooperation, Jean-Louis Schiltz was, during Luxembourg’s Presidency of the European Union in 2005, the key figure in negotiating the agreement whereby the European Union undertook to spend 0.7% of its gross domestic product on development aid by 2015. The negotiations on the revision of the Cotonou Agreement were also successfully concluded under his chairmanship. He also coordinated the EU-Tsunami response. Jean-Louis Schiltz was also a lawyer in private practice for fifteen years and pursued in parallel an academic career at the universities of Paris and Luxembourg. Mr. Schiltz was awarded a Master of Law and a postgraduate degree in business law at the Université Paris I Panthéon Sorbonne.

• Video Statement on the Global Humanitarian Forum
• Luxembourg Government

Amartya Sen is currently Professor of Economics and Philosophy at Harvard University. Mr. Sen was awarded the Nobel Prize for economics in 1998 and has taught at a number of leading academic institutions including Oxford, Cambridge, the London School of Economics, the Universities of Delhi and Calcutta, Cornell University, the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), Stanford and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He is well known for his published works, including, most recently, Rationality and Freedom (2002), The Argumentative Indian (2005) and Identity and Violence: The Illusion of Destiny (2006). Mr. Sen participates in a number of public fora, for example, as Commissioner on the World Health Organization’s Commission on the Social Determinants of Health, and as a trustee of Economists for Peace and Security. He studied in India at Visva-Bharati University, Santiniketan, West Bengal, and at Presidency College, Kolkata. He also studied at Trinity College, Cambridge, where he received his PhD in 1959.

• Harvard University Department of Economics

Barbara Stocking currently serves as the Chief Executive of Oxfam Great Britain – a non-governmental organization with projects in some 80 countries throughout the world. Since joining Oxfam, she has led the organization’s response to humanitarian crises in Afghanistan, Iraq, Sudan, and Oxfam’s humanitarian actions during the Indian Ocean Tsunami crisis and the Pakistan earthquake. Prior to her directorship, she worked for the World Health Organization in West Africa, was Director of the King’s Fund Centre for Health Service Development, and held senior positions in the UK National Health Service. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Natural Science from Cambridge University and a Masters degree in Reproductive Physiology from the University of Wisconsin, USA.

• Video Statement on the Global Humanitarian Forum
• Video Statement on the Annual Meeting 2008
• Oxfam

As founder and President of the Athens-based Child and Family Foundation, Marianna Vardinoyannis promotes awareness, public debate, research and fundraising in support of the protection and welfare of children everywhere. Marianna Vardinoyannis is also an UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador and President of the Friends Association for Children with Cancer (ELPIDA). Her active commitment to promoting a culture of peace and the protection of the world’s cultural heritage is demonstrated through her membership in a number of boards and committees, including that of the Suzanne Mubarak Women’s International Peace Movement and the Library of Alexandria. She studied Economics at the University of Denver, USA, and was recently awarded the French Legion of Honour.

• Video Statement on the Global Humanitarian Forum
• Video Statement on the Annual Meeting 2008
• Unesco Celebrity Advocates
• Foundation for the Child and Family

James Wolfensohn served as the ninth president of the World Bank Group from 1995 until 2005. After serving two terms at the head of the World Bank, he founded the Wolfensohn Center for Development at the Brookings Institute – a Washington D.C. based think tank. The center examines how to implement, scale-up, and sustain interventions to solve key development challenges at a national, regional and global level, and strives to bridge the gap between development theorists and practitioners. In 2005, Mr. Wolfensohn was also appointed as Special Envoy for Gaza disengagement by the Quartet on the Middle East. He holds a degree in law from the University of Sydney, Australia, and a Master of Business Administration from Harvard Business School, USA.

• The Wolfensohn Center for Development

Muhammad Yunus is the founder of Grameen Bank. Mr. Yunus was co-recipient with the Grameen Bank of the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize "for efforts to create economic and social development from below". He pioneered the concept of microcredit – the extension of small loans to entrepreneurs who may otherwise be too poor to qualify for traditional bank loans. The Grameen Bank perceives credit to be a cost effective weapon to fight extreme poverty and stimulate socio-economic development. As it has grown, the Grameen Bank has also developed other systems of alternate credit that serve the poor. For example, in addition to microcredit, it offers education loans and housing loans, financing for fisheries and irrigation projects, and other banking services, such as savings accounts. Mr. Yunus holds degrees in economics from Dhaka University, Bangladesh, was offered a Fulbright scholarship for study in the United States, and holds a PhD from Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, USA.

• Official Website of Muhammad Yunus
• The Elders