Mr. Vladimir Voronkov was appointed Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism on 21 June 2017, established by General Assembly resolution 71/291. Mr. Voronkov brings to the position more than 30 years of experience within the Foreign Service of the Russian Federation, working primarily on United Nations affairs, with responsibilities ranging from public diplomacy and social and economic development issues to intergovernmental affairs. Prior to his appointment, he was Ambassador and Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation to the International Organizations in Vienna. Under his leadership, the Permanent Mission launched several flagship projects with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crimes (UNODC) and developed successful collaborations with the UNODC Antiterrorist Branch. Mr. Voronkov also served on the Board of Governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), during which time he led several delegations of the Russian Federation to the Commission on Narcotic Drugs and the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice. Prior to serving in Vienna, Mr. Voronkov was Director of the Department of European Cooperation (2008-2011), during which time he served as the Head of the Russian Delegation during the Russia-European Union negotiations on the visa-free regime (2010-2011). He started his career with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1989 and has served in various capacities, among them as Deputy Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation to the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) in Vienna (2005-2008), Deputy Director of the Personnel Department (2002-2005) and Minister Counsellor and Deputy Chief of Mission of the Russian Embassy to Poland (2000-2002). Mr. Voronkov holds a PhD from Moscow State University. He has authored various scientific publications on international issues.

Ambassador Paula J. Dobriansky, a foreign policy expert and diplomat specializing in national security affairs, is Vice Chair of the Atlantic Council's Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security and a Senior Fellow at Harvard University’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs. She brings over 30 years of government and international experience across senior levels of diplomacy, business, and defense. She was Senior Vice President and Global Head of Government and Regulatory Affairs at Thomson Reuters and held the Distinguished National Security Chair at the U.S. Naval Academy.  Her high-level government positions include Under Secretary of State for Global Affairs, President's Envoy to Northern Ireland, National Security Council Director of European and Soviet Affairs, and Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Human Rights and Humanitarian Affairs.  A member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the American Academy of Diplomacy, Dobriansky also served on the Defense Policy Board, the Secretary of State's Foreign Policy Board and as Chair of ExIm Bank's Council on China Competition. She has a BSFS summa cum laude from Georgetown University School of Foreign Service and an MA and Ph.D. in Soviet political/military affairs from Harvard University.  She has received high-level international recognition from the governments of Poland, Ukraine, Hungary, Romania, Lithuania and Colombia and has five Honorary Doctorate degrees.

Mr. Zane Dangor currently serves as the Director-General (DG) of the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO). Before being appointed to serve in this capacity from 1 April 2022, he was a Special Adviser to the current and former Ministers of International Relations and Cooperation. Before joining DIRCO, he worked as the Chief Operations Officer at Soul City.Mr. Dangor worked at the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) as its interim representative to the African Union and Economic Commission for Africa in 2017. Before joining the UNFPA, he served as DG of the Department of Social Development. He also served as Deputy DG of the Department of Social Development, where he worked for over 12 years. This included being seconded to serve as Special Adviser to two Ministers of Social Development.Mr. Dangor worked with the International Human Rights Law Group, based in Washington, DC, focussing on transitional justice issues in West Africa. He worked in civil society and as a consultant in various capacities. He was a senior manager, including Executive Director at the Development Resource Centre, for 10 years, where he contributed to human rights and development work nationally and abroad. He was a managing partner in the social consulting company, Sonke Consulting.Mr. Dangor holds a Master’s in Law in International Law and a Master’s in Public and Development Management, both from the University of the Witwatersrand.

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.

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.

HE Dr. Mohammed bin Abdulaziz bin Saleh al-Khulaifi was appointed Minister of State at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs by Amiri Decree No. 5 of 2023.The Minister of State at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs supervises the implementation of political, regional and international files related to mediation and dispute settlement.Prior to that, Dr. Al-Khulaifi held the position of Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs for Regional Affairs under Amiri Decree No. 10 of 2022. He also worked as Dean of the Faculty of Law and associate professor of law at the Faculty of law, Qatar University before joining the Ministry. He obtained a BA in Law from Qatar University, as well as an MA and a PhD in Law from the University of California - Berkeley, USA. He has a number of publications and scientific research in the field of law.Dr. Al-Khulaifi has joined several State councils and committees, including the Board of Directors of Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development, the Board of Directors of the Qatar Financial Markets Authority, the Board of Directors of Doha’s International Center for Interfaith Dialogue, the Permanent Committee on the international Law of the Sea in the Ministry and, the Permanent Committee on Legislative Affairs at the Council of Ministers.Prior to assuming this position, Dr. Alkhulaifi served as a legal advisor to His Excellency Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the State of Qatar in 2018, and Agent of the State of Qatar before the International Court of Justice in The Hague in 2018. He also served as a lawyer before the Qatari Court of Cassation, and an adjudicator at the Qatar Financial Center Regulatory Authority in 2017.

Brian Katulis is a senior fellow and vice president of policy at the Middle East Institute. He was formerly a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress (CAP), where he built the Center’s Middle East program and also worked on broader issues related to U.S. national security.He has produced influential studies that have shaped important discussions around regional policy, often providing expert testimony to key congressional committees on his findings. Katulis has also conducted extensive research in countries such as Egypt, Israel, Jordan, and the Palestinian territories. His past experience includes work at the National Security Council and the U.S. Departments of State and Defense.EducationMaster in Public Affairs, Princeton University’s School of Public and International AffairsBachelor of Arts in history and Arab and Islamic studies, Villanova UniversityFulbright scholar in Jordan, 1994 - 1995Regions of ExpertiseEgypt, Israel, the Palestinian territories, JordanIssues of ExpertiseNational security, U.S. foreign policy, diplomacy 

Crisis Group RoleMurithi Mutiga is Program Director for Africa. He is based in Nairobi.BackgroundHe previously covered East Africa for The Guardian (UK) and before that served as a Contributing Op-Ed Writer to the International New York Times. Murithi was also an editor and columnist with the Sunday Nation.He holds an MSc in Comparative Politics from the London School of Economics.