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.