December 2022 - You are accessing an archived version of our website. This website is no longer maintained or updated. The Sustainable Development Knowledge Platform has been migrated here: https://sdgs.un.org/
December 2022 - You are accessing an archived version of our website. This website is no longer maintained or updated. The Sustainable Development Knowledge Platform has been migrated here: https://sdgs.un.org/
Where do we stand in formulating an ambitious and transformative post-2015 development agenda? How can we resolve outstanding issues?
How will the business sector support the implementation of the SDGs through its activities and through partnerships?
SD in Action - Special Report on Voluntary Multi-Stakeholder Partnerships and Commitments for Sustainable Development
Session 3: The role of business in implementation
What will be the most critical challenges for implementing the SDGs and how can the HLPF help countries address them?
How can the HLPF most effectively engage with scientists in guiding its work? How can science contribute to the implementation and follow-up and review of the post-2015 agenda?
How can the Global Sustainable Development Report best support the HLPF in its function to guide the implementation of the post-2015 agenda? Should it focus on reviewing progress in specific areas or across the agenda? Should it help in identifying new issues?
Global Sustainable Development Report (Advance Unedited Version)
Global Sustainable Development Report - 2015 Briefs
Session 6: The GSDR as a bridge between the SDGs and the scientific community
Do we know how to integrate the SDGs into planning and policy making at all levels, balancing economic, social and environmental dimensions? How can we best learn from one another in this regard?
How can action at the regional level accelerate national implementation and facilitate review of progress?
Are we on track to implement the commitments we made at the Samoa Conference on Small Island Developing States and to mobilize the necessary means of implementation?
Session 9: The SAMOA Pathway: translating vision to action
SIDS Partnership Dialogue - Summary & Progress report
How can the post-2015 development agenda be best communicated so as to inspire and engage all actors and harness creativity and innovation?
Are institutions in charge of training and education ready and equipped to gear their programmes towards supporting the SDGs?
Is progress being made in implementing the 10 year framework of programmes on sustainable consumption and production and are we having an impact?
What must we do differently to mobilize and allocate resources so as to realize the SDGs? What does the shared vision to “leave no one behind” imply in terms of financing for the new development agenda?
How can existing UN system platforms be best utilized to track progress on the implementation of the SDGs and how can the HLPF build on their work?
Concluding remarks by the President of ECOSOC
How to make institutions more responsive, societies more inclusive and UN fit to implement the post-2015 development agenda?
What are the major new trends decision-makers should pay attention to and what is science telling us about them?
How can countries translate the post-2015 development agenda into national policies while maintaining its ambitious and integrated nature? How can we communicate the agenda so that it mobilizes all stakeholders including civil society and the business sector?
“Our HLPF in the next 15 years”
Introduction of SG Reports
Introduction of CDP report
How can the international community best review the implementation of the post-2015 development agenda, building on what has been done thus far? How can the HLPF conduct its reviews of implementation so that they truly benefit countries and boost implementation?
What must we do differently to mobilize and allocate resources so as to realize the SDGs? What does the shared vision to “leave no one behind” imply in terms of financing for the new development agenda?
His Excellency Martin Sajdik became President of the Economic and Social Council on 14 January 2014. Ambassador Martin Sajdik, Permanent Representative of Austria to the United Nations in New York, presented his credentials on 4 January 2012. Prior to his appointment to New York, he served as Austria’s ambassador to the People’s Republic of China, Mongolia and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. From 2003 until 2007, Ambassador Sajdik was Director General for Economic Affairs and European Integration.
In 2008, Mr. Rudolf Hundstorfer was sworn in as Minister of Social Affairs and Consumer Protection of the Republic of Austria. He was executive president of the ÖGB and became its President as well as a member of the executive committee in 2007, with a key responsibility for social affairs. He also worked as Vice President of the Austrian Trade Union Federation and first Chairman of Vienna's City Council.
Mr. Wu Hongbo was appointed United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs on 1 August 2012. Prior to his appointment, Mr. Wu served as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the People’s Republic of China to the Federal Republic of Germany. Among his various diplomatic assignments, Mr. Wu served as China’s Ambassador to the Philippines.
From 2009 to 2013, Thomas Gass served as Head of the Mission of Switzerland to Nepal. Before then, Mr. Gass was Head of the Economic and Development Section at the Permanent Mission of Switzerland to the UN in New York, representing Switzerland’s interests to ECOSOC. Currently, Thomas Gass serves as Assistant Secretary-General for Policy Coordination and Inter-Agency Affairs in UN DESA.
Mr. Kadir Topbaş, the Mayor of Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality and the President of United Cities and Local Governments, earned his PhD degree from Istanbul University in the Department of Art History and Archeology. He worked as an architect for many years and became the Mayor of Beyoglu in 1999. Topbas became a candidate for the Mayorship of Istanbul in 2004 Local Elections, and won with vast majority. He is also a member of the supervisory board and trustee committee of TAC Foundation (Foundation of History and Environment). 
Ms. Frances Zainoeddin left Australia in 1970 to work at the United Nations, New York, initially in the Population Division of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs and ended her career, 31 years later, as Deputy Budget Director of the United Nations Programme Planning and Budget Division. Upon retirement, she joined the NGO community in order to further promote the ideals of the United Nations, with specific interest in gender and ageing issues. She is currently an elected Member-at-Large of the NGO Committee on Ageing and is also a member of the NGO Committee on the Status of Women. Ms. Zainoeddin, was a key participant in the establishment of the Stakeholder Group on Ageing in 2013 and was actively engaged in the United Nations intergovernmental negotiations leading up to the adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, ensuring inclusion of the concerns of older persons. 
Hirotaka Koike works in the Disaster Risk Reduction Task Force (Working Group) of the United Nations Major Group of Children and Youth. Mr. Koike concentrates on engaging youth in the formation of policy and has expertise in community capacity building and Disaster Risk Reduction. 
Ambassador Donoghue of Ireland serves as the co-facilitator of the negotiations on the Outcome document of the Post-2015 development agenda Summit. Prior to New York, Ambassador Donoghue served as the Political Director of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade in Dublin. During his long career in the diplomatic service, he has also served as Ireland’s Ambassador to Germany, Austria and the Vienna-based United Nations agencies, and the Russian Federation, among other postings.
Mr. Henry Bonsu is an experienced broadcaster. He has worked extensively in radio and TV for both UK’s BBC and commercial stations, and written columns and features for national newspapers including the Evening Standard, the Times, and The Guardian. He is also a regular contributor to Press TV, SKY News and Al Jazeera. Mr. Bonsu was born in Manchester of Ghanaian heritage and is a modern languages graduate from Oxford University.
H.E. Mr. Juan Manuel Gómez-Robledo was appointed Deputy Foreign Minister for Multilateral Affairs and Human Rights In December 2006. Prior to this he served as the Deputy Permanent Representative at the Permanent Mission of Mexico to the United Nations. He is a currently a member of the International Law Commission. He has been a member of the Mexican Foreign Service since 1988.
Ambassador Donoghue of Ireland serves as the co-facilitator of the negotiations on the Outcome document of the Post-2015 development agenda Summit. Prior to New York, Ambassador Donoghue served as the Political Director of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade in Dublin. During his long career in the diplomatic service, he has also served as Ireland’s Ambassador to Germany, Austria and the Vienna-based United Nations agencies, and the Russian Federation, among other postings.
Director Mayacine Camara of the Department of Planning and Economic Policies from the Ministry of Economy, Finance and Planning of Senegal of Senegal was recently appointed as the Chair of the African Regional Forum on Sustainable Development.
Dr. Babatunde Osotimehin, a physician and public health expert, is the fourth Executive Director of UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund. Before this appointment, Dr. Osotimehin served as Nigeria’s Minister of Health and as the Director-General of Nigeria’s National Agency for the Control of AIDS.
Mr. Marwan Bishtawi, aged 21, is Associate Coordinator of the Pax Romana UN Advocacy Team in New York. As a representative of the Catholic youth-led organisation, he collaborates extensively with the UN Major Group for Children and Youth on several processes including Post-2015, Habitat III, Financing for Development, and the World Humanitarian Summit preparation. 
His Excellency Martin Sajdik became President of the Economic and Social Council on 14 January 2014. Ambassador Martin Sajdik, Permanent Representative of Austria to the United Nations in New York, presented his credentials on 4 January 2012. Prior to his appointment to New York, he served as Austria’s ambassador to the People’s Republic of China, Mongolia and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. From 2003 until 2007, Ambassador Sajdik was Director General for Economic Affairs and European Integration.
Ms. Amina J. Mohammed was Minister of Environment of the Federal Republic of Nigeria from November 2015 to December 2016, where she steered the country’s efforts on climate action, protecting the natural environment and conserving resources for sustainable development.
Sir Mark is Chairman of the Global Compact Foundation. He is a Director of HSBC Holdings PLC, Accenture Ltd, and Saudi Aramco. He was Chairman of Anglo American plc, a global mining company from 2002 to 2009. He was Chairman of the Royal Dutch/Shell Group of Companies from 1998 to 2001, having worked for Shell since 1966. In 2000 and 2001, he Co-Chaired the G-8 Task Force on Renewable Energy and also Chaired Business Action for Sustainable Development, a joint initiative of the International Chamber of Commerce and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development in the run up to the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg, 2002. He was also on the board of the Global Reporting Initiative from 2002 to 2007. Sir Mark became a Knight Commander of the Order of St. Michael and St George in June 2000, and is the author of Responsible Leadership and Lessons from the Front Line of Sustainability and Ethics.
Mr. Arima joined Fuji Xerox in 1967. In 1992 he became the company's Director, and in 1996 its Managing Director. In 1996, Mr. Arima was also appointed President and CEO of Xerox International Partners. In 2002 he became President of Fuji Xerox. Mr. Arima has held his current position as Executive Advisor to the Board since 2007. He became the Chair of the Board of the Global Compact Network Japan in April 2008 when the network reorganized to become a CEO-lead organization. He actively promotes a productive and environmentally-friendly work style as a Chairman of the Japan Telework Association. He graduated from International Christian University College of Liberal Arts in Japan.
Jeff Seabright is current Chief Sustainability Officer of Unilever, where he is responsible for driving, through advocacy and partnerships, transformational change on priority areas of Unilever’s Sustainable Living Plan: climate change and eliminating deforestation; sustainable agriculture & smallholder farmers; water, sanitation and hygiene; and opportunities for women. Previously, he served as Vice President for Environmental and Water Resources at the Coca-Cola Company. During the Clinton Administration in 1993, he worked for the head of the US Agency for International Development, later serving as the Director of the Office of the Energy, Environment and Technology. He moved to the White House in 1999 where he served as the Executive Director of the Climate Change Task Force. In 2000, he left government to work for the CEO of Texaco in NY as Vice-President, Policy Planning. Board memberships include: National Council on Science & Environment, WEF Global Advisory Council on Forestry (Chair); World Environment Center; ERB Institute for Global Social Enterprise, University of Michigan; Global Water Challenge
Jean-Francis Regis Zinsou was appointed as the Permanent Representative of Benin to the United Nations on January 7th, 2010. Previously, he served as Chargé d’Affaires ad interim at his country’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations in New York from October 2008 to October 2009, during which time he also served as Minister Counsellor. He also served in Germany as a counsellor at Embassy of Benin. Ambassador Jean-Francis Regis Zinsou earned a M.A., as well as diplomas from the Diplomatic Academy of Vienna and the University of Vienna. 
Ms. Lindblom works in the Ministry of the Environment of Finland as Counsellor for International Affairs and as Secretary General of the Prime Minister led multi-stakeholder Finnish National Commission on Sustainable Development. She coordinates the process for a National Agenda2030 Implementation Plan together with the Prime Minister’s Office and the Ministry for Foreign Affairs and takes operational responsibility in the work of the National Commission. She also works with the international aspects of the follow up and review of the Agenda2030, as well as UNEP-led processes regarding Sustainable Consumption and Production and Inclusive Green Economy. Ms. Lindblom belonged to Finland’s negotiation team during the Rio+20, Open-Ended Working Group on SDGs and Post-2015 processes, leading to the adoption of the Agenda 2030.
Francis Gurry is an Australian lawyer who has served as Director General of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) since October 1, 2008. He holds law degrees from the University of Melbourne, a Ph.D from the University of Cambridge and is the author of a number of publications, one of which has become a standard legal text in the UK and is published by Oxford University Press as Gurry on Breach of Confidence. He is also the Secretary-General of the International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants.
Diego Azzi is Advisor for International Relations at CUT Brazil. Diego holds a PhD in Sociology and has been working for the more than 15 years with civil society organizations in the promotion of social, labor and human rights. Currently, is focused on the monitoring of the Post 2015 agenda negotiations and the BRICS, from a trade union perspective.
Ms. Aisa Kirabo Kacyira of the Republic of Rwanda as Deputy Executive Director and Assistant Secretary-General for UN-Habitat. Ms. Kirabo is the former Governor of Eastern Province and, prior to that, she was Mayor of Kigali City (2006 - 2011).
Ambassador Pio Wennubst is currently operating under the Swiss Permanent Mission to the UN in New York as the head of the economic and social development team. As Assistant General Director of the SDC, he manages the Global Cooperation Department. 
A career diplomat with 30 years in Peru’s foreign service, he also held various positions in the Foreign Ministry, including National Director of Sovereignty and Boundaries from June 2008 to July 2009, with the rank of Minister; and Director of World Trade Organization Affairs and Head of the Peruvian delegation in the negotiations for an Association Agreement with the European Union.
Manish Bapna is the executive vice president and managing director of the World Resources Institute, a global research organization that works to address six urgent sustainability challenges: food, forests, water, climate, energy and cities. He served as WRI’s acting president from 2011-2012. Before joining WRI in 2007, Manish was executive director of the non-profit Bank Information Centre (BIC).
A passionate and ardent supporter of women’s rights and emancipation, Evelyn Ugbe volunteers at the Women Environmental Program, which works to educate Nigerian women and other stakeholders on the effects of climate change among other environmental issues. 
Mr. Wu Hongbo was appointed United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs on 1 August 2012. Prior to his appointment, Mr. Wu served as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the People’s Republic of China to the Federal Republic of Germany. Among his various diplomatic assignments, Mr. Wu served as China’s Ambassador to the Philippines.
Dr. Paul Shrivastava, has a unique background that combines academic scholarship and teaching with significant entrepreneurial and senior management experience. Currently he is the David O’Brien Distinguished Professor of Sustainable Enterprise at the John Molson School of Business, Concordia University, Montreal. He also serves as Senior Advisor on sustainability at Bucknell University and the Indian Institute of Management-Shillong, India, and he serves on the Board of Trustees of DeSales University, Allentown, Pennsylvania. Dr. Shrivastava has over 25 years of experience in management education, entrepreneurship, and as a consultant to major multinational corporations. He has launched several entrepreneurial ventures. In 1976 he was part of the management team that launched Hindustan Computer Ltd., which today is one of India's largest computer companies. In 1985 he founded the non-profit Industrial Crisis Institute, Inc. in New York, to mediate the industrial crisis between Union Carbide Corporation and the Government of India, and published the Industrial Crisis Quarterly. 
Dr. Luiz Augusto Cassanha Galvão, a Brazilian national, received his medical degree at the "Faculdade de Medicina do ABC" in São Paulo, Brazil, in 1977. Dr. Galvão's career at PAHO started in 1984 as a short-term consultant at the Pan American Center for Human Ecology and Health (ECO) in Mexico, and in 1991, he became a permanent staff member in the position of Environmental Epidemiologist of the Center. In 1994 he was appointed Regional Advisor on Environmental Quality. In March of 2003, he was appointed Acting Area Manager of the Sustainable Development and Environmental Health Area (SDE), and as of 1 September 2003 he was appointed as Area Manager of the Special Program on Sustainable Development and Health Equity at the Pan American Health Organization. Dr. Galvão works on programs relating to Children’s Environmental Health, Climate Change and Health, Health Equity, Consumers’ Health and MDGs and the Post-2015 Development Agenda.
Dr. Maria Ivanova received her PhD from Yale University. She is an Associate Professor in the Department of Conflict Resolution, Human Security, and Global Governance at the McCormack Graduate School in the University of Massachusetts Boston. Dr. Ivanova is the Co-Director of center for Governance and Sustainability and the Director of the Global Environmental Governance Project. She has contributed to and published papers relating to the areas of global governance, international organizations and their performance, climate change governance, United States foreign environmental policy, United Nations reform and sustainability on campuses and in organizations.
H.E. Mr. Gabriel Vallejo López is the Minister of Environment and Sustainable Development in Colombia. In his professional career, he has occupied managerial positions at the Compañía Mundial de Seguros and Hoteles Royal. He was Vice-President of Human Resources at Noel and General Manger at Canal Capital in Bogotá, General Director at HSM Group in Mexico, Comercial Vice-President for Latin America for HSM Group and General Manger for Specialized Media at El Tiempo. Minister Gabriel Vallejo has also worked as professor at various universities. Under Juan Manuel Santos’ government he was director at the Department for Social Prosperity. 
Dr. Lucilla Spini, a biological anthropologist with expertise in sustainability science and international science/policy bridging, is the Head of Science Programmes at the International Council for Science (ICSU). Before joining ICSU, she has worked on biodiversity conservation, global environmental change, sustainable development and S&T capacity building for a number of international organizations including UNESCO, UNU, and FAO of the UN. Dr. Spini holds a B.A. in anthropology from New York University (USA), as well as a M.Sc. in human biology and D.Phil. in biological anthropology, both from the University of Oxford (UK). She has been an Adjunct Professor at the School of Geography and Earth Science at McMaster University (Canada) and an Adjunct Assistant Professor in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Waterloo (Canada). Dr. Spini is an Old Member of Linacre College (Oxford) and an Alumna Fellow of the Sustainability Science Program at the Harvard’s Kennedy School. 
Prof. Dr. Patrick Paul Walsh is the Professor of International Development Studies in University College Dublin, Ireland. He is chair of the Academic Steering Committee of the Global Association of Masters of Development Practice that is based at the Earth Institute at Columbia University. He co-ordinates the UCD Ph.D. in Global Human Development which trains academic staff in East African Universities up to a Ph.D. level across several subject areas. He co-directs the TCD-UCD Masters in Development Practice. His professional activities include honorary secretary, and editor of the Journal, of the Statistical and Social Inquiry Society of Ireland. He has extensive experience providing external services for the Irish Competition Authority, la Fiscalía Nacional Económica in Chile, European Commission and World Bank. His current research is on Agricultural Productivity in East Africa, Social Security for all, Socioeconomic impact of HIV/AIDS, Elections in Malawi, Post-Conflict Resolution, Cartels and Global Food Security and issues surrounding the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
Prof. Dr. E. William Colglazier is currently Senior Scholar at the Center for Science Diplomacy at the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). He is also co-chair of the 10-Member Group of the Technology Facilitation Mechanism. He served as 4th Science and Technology Adviser to the Secretary of State from 2011 to 2014. His role was to provide scientific and technical expertise and advice in support of the development and implementation of U.S. foreign policy. Previously, he served as Executive Officer of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) and the National Research Council (NRC) where he helped to oversee the studies that provide independent, objective advice on public policy issues, and as Executive Director of their Office of International Affairs. From 1983 to 1991, he was a Professor of Physics at the University of Tennessee where he directed several research centers: Energy, Environment, and Resources Center; Waste Management Research and Education Institute; and the Water Resources Research Center. He received his Ph.D. in theoretical physics from the California Institute of Technology in 1971, and prior to 1983 worked at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center, the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, and the Center for Science and International Affairs at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. While at Harvard, he also served as Associate Director of the Program in Science, Technology, and Humanism of the Aspen Institute. In 1976-77, he was an AAAS Congressional Science Fellow. He is past chair of the Forum on Physics and Society of the American Physical Society (APS) and a Fellow of the AAAS and APS.
Dr Debapriya Bhattacharya, a macroeconomist and public policy analyst, is a Distinguished Fellow at the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) – a globally reputed think-tank in Bangladesh – where he had been earlier its first Executive Director. He was the Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Bangladesh to the WTO, UN Office, and other international organisations in Geneva and Vienna. He was the Special Adviser on LDCs to the Secretary General, UNCTAD. Earlier, he had been a Senior Research Fellow at Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies (BIDS).
H.E. Mr. Karel J. G. van Oosterom was promoted to the position of Permanent Representative of the Netherlands to the United nations in New York in 2013. Prior to that, he has served as Director-General for Political Affairs in the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and was a Foreign Policy and Defense Advisor to the Prime Minister for five years. As a career diplomat for almost 20 years, Mr. van Oosterom has held several positions in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, including Deputy Head of Mission at the Dutch Embassy in Beijing. He also served as the Deputy Director at the Ministry’s European Affairs Department. In addition, van Oosterom is a past Chairperson of the Executive Committee of the Economic Commission for Europe.
In 2013, Ms. Jermanová was elected as Deputy to the Chamber of Deputies. In a subsequent election, she became the first Vice-President of the Chamber of Deputies of the Parliament of the Czech Republic. She has also founded the Women´s Academy for training potential female politicians. Ms. Jermanová is a member of the City Council Benešov (a town situated also in the Central Bohemia) and a member of its Finance Committee. In addition, she is an Ambassador for Women in Parliament, a non-partisan foundation reaching out to all female Parliamentarians, no matter their political affiliation
Mr. Yaya W. Junardy is the President of the Indonesia Global Compact Network. He has been President Commissioner at PT Rajawali Corporation since 2006. Mr. Junardy served as Managing Director of PT Excelcomindo Pratama TbkPreviously, he occupied several important positions at Bank Universal, RCTI, PT Telekomindo Primabhakti, and PT Excelcomindo Pratama. He also serves as a Member of Nomination and Remuneration Committee of PT Bentoel International Investama Tbk and is active in several organizations and community service activities, such as the World Marketing Association, the Indonesian Bonsai Association and National Research Council Working Committee. He studied Engineering Technique at the Krisnadwipayana University, Jakarta. In addition, Mr. Junardy has actively participated in several training and management programs sponsored by IBM.
Ms. Galina Angarova is a representative of the Buryat peoples, a Russian indigenous group. Ms. Angarova is Tebtebba's Policy and Communications Advisor based in New York and represents the Indigenous Peoples' Major Group at the United Nations. Previously, she has worked as a Russia Program Director at Pacific Environment. She also led highly effective international and local grassroots efforts to block pipeline construction in the Altai region of Siberia, which threatened indigenous Altaian's sacred sites and untouched wilderness. She worked to close a toxic paper mill on Lake Baikal in Siberia and to stop plans to construct a hydro-dam that would flood the ancestral lands of indigenous Evenk peoples in Western Siberia. She currently serves on the board of directors of International Funders for Indigenous Peoples.
Ximena Ponce is a Member of the Parliament of Ecuador. She is the President of the Commission for Education, Culture, Science and Technology. Prior to this, she served as an adviser to the National Secretary of Planning (SENPLADES), Minister for Economic and Social Inclusion, Councilor for the Metropolitan District of Quito, General Adviser to the Minister for Social and Economic Inclusion of Ecuador and consultant to the program “Inclusion of civil Society to Increase Transparency and Accountability”.
Mr. Vajra Narampanawa is the Secretary of the State Ministry of Environment of Sri Lanka. He has held many distinguished posts in government service before assuming duties in his present position. In the past, Mr. Narampanawa served as Secretary of the Ministry of Minor Export Crop Promotion; as Additional Secretary to the Ministry of Mass Media and Information, and also Director- General for the Sri Lanka Television Corporation.
A member of the Egyptian Council for Foreign Affairs since 2012, Ambassador Ashraf Rashed was appointed Vice-Chairman of the African Peer Review Panel of Eminent Persons that same year. The African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) is a mutually-agreed instrument voluntarily acceded to by the member states of the African Union as a self-monitoring mechanism. The APRM encourages conformity in political, economic and corporate governance values, codes and standards, among African countries and the objectives in socio-economic development within the New Partnership for Africa's Development.
Mr. Christian Brodhag is a civil engineer and has a PhD in physical science. He is a professor at the School of the Mines of Saint-Etienne in France and a researcher in sustainability, social responsibility and innovation.
Mr. Paul Ladd has been Director of UNRISD since October 2015. Before taking up this position he had been at UNDP, where he had most recently been Director of the team supporting consultations and technical inputs for the 2030 Development Agenda.
Ms. Roula Majdalani is the Director of the Sustainable Development and Productivity Division (SDPD) in UN-ESCWA. Ms. Majdalani returned to SDPD in April 2010 first as Chief of the Productive Sectors Section and then as Director of SDPD in September 2010. In January 2008, she was appointed Chief of the Technical Cooperation Section (TCS) in the ESCWA Program Planning and Technical Cooperation Division (PPTCD). Ms. Majdalani also served in South Africa as a Political Observer in the UN Peace Building Mission. Prior to her career with the United Nations, she worked with Dar Al-Handasah Consultants (London), from 1985 to 1988 as an Urban Planner preparing surveys, sectoral studies and research activities for urban development projects in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Jordan and Morocco. 
H.E. Mr. Ronald (Ronny) Jumeau is Seychelles Ambassador at large. He was appointed Seychelles’ Permanent Representative (Ambassador) to the United Nations and Ambassador to the United States for the second time in March 2017. He started his career as a journalist and then Chief Editor of the Seychelles Nation daily newspaper. He became Secretary to the Cabinet in the Office of the President of Seychelles in 1992 before holding several ministerial posts from 1998 to 2007 including that of Minister for Environment and Natural Resources, which included responsibility for climate change, conservation, water, forestry, agriculture and fisheries. In 2007 Ambassador Jumeau was appointed Seychelles’ Permanent Representative to the United Nations and Ambassador to the United States, Canada, Brazil, Cuba and several Caribbean islands until 2012 when he became his country’s New York-based roving Ambassador for Climate Change and Small Island Developing State Issues. He is a Vice-President of the Assembly of SIDS DOCK, the global sustainable energy initiative for Small Island Developing States (SIDS), and a Vice-Chair of its Executive Council. He is also the Alternate Member of the Board of the Green Climate Fund (GCF), representing Small Island Developing States (SIDS). He was Chair of the Steering Committee of the Global Island Partnership (GLISPA) from 2013 to 2015 and is currently a Vice-Chair, and was Chief Spokesperson of the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) from 2012 to 2014.
Dr. Azeema Adam serves as an Executive Director of Maldives Monetary Authority, as well as a Governor at the International Monetary Fund. 
Mr. Elisaia obtained a postgraduate certificate in diplomacy from Oxford University, and also holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science and administration from the University of the South Pacific. He first served in the Samoan Mission to the United Nations in 1979. From 1979 to 1981, he was Acting Division Head, and then as Division Head, at the Economic and Aid Division of the Samoan Ministry of Foreign Affairs. From 1981 to 1984, he served as First Secretary at Samoa’s High Commission in New Zealand. He was Deputy Secretary for Foreign Affairs from 1984 to 1988, then co-director of the Hanns Seidel Foundation in Samoa from 1988 to 2001. From 2001 to 2003, he was Assistant Chief Executive Officer at the Samoan Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Mr. Elisaia was appointed Permanent Representative of Samoa to the United Nations in 2003.[
As the Pro-Vice-Chancellor of Planning and Development, Professor Andrew Downes will oversee the implementation of the University of West Indies’ Strategic Plan of 2018.
Cofounder and CEO of Altaeros Energies, Ben Glass is a Cleantech entrepreneur focusing on energy generation technologies for remote communities and industrial sites. 
Dr. Fonseca is the Director of Programs at the Global Environment Facility (GEF), the largest independent funding mechanism supporting the global commons, housed at the World Bank and serving 155 countries. Responsibilities include overseeing the portfolio of investments in biodiversity, climate change mitigation and adaptation, forests and REDD+, transboundary marine and freshwater conservation, chemicals and sustainable land management. A tenured Professor at the Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG) in Brazil, he was the first Executive Director of Center for Applied Biodiversity before becaming the Chief Conservation and Science Officer of Conservation International. He holds a Master's degree in Latin American Studies and a Ph.D. in Forest Management and Conservation from the University of Florida. He published close to 150 publications articles and books. He received multiple awards, including the Oliver Austin Award of the University of Florida’s State Museum and the Environmental Protection Award of Government of the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil.
Dr. Florence Pignolet-Tardan is the Technical Advisor of Energy and Environment at the Regional Council of La Réunion. Prior to this, Dr. Pignolet-Tardan was the Director of Studies, Bachelor and Master, of the Science Division at the University of Reunion. She is also the co-author of important publications in the field of sustainable development, including “Multiple model approach and experimental validation of a residential air-to-air heat pump” and “Thermal environment and outdoor comfort under tropical climate”.
Cristina Gallach served as the Head of the Public Relations unit for the Council of the European Union from 2012-2014. She has a wealth of experience as a journalist in the television, newspaper, and radio industries, and currently serves as the Under-Secretary-General for Communications and Public Information.
He served as the chair of the MDG Awards Committee. Ambassador Lorenzo is also an alternate Ambassador of the Dominican Republic to the United Nations, and worked with the UN Public-Private Alliance for Rural Development and the UN Economic and Social Council to negotiate the resolution that named the Dominican Republic as the second pilot country for the UN Alliance. In addition, Ambassador Lorenzo was the facilitator for the resolution towards global partnership at the UN. He was the former Vice President of the Commission for Social Development and is the current Vice President of the United Nations Association of the Dominican Republic (UNA-DR).
In 1991, Grammenos Mastrojeni joined the Italian MOFA and held various positions, among them Head of the Foreign Press Office and Director of the Foreign Affairs web site. Currently, he is the Coordinator for Eco-sustainability issues at Italian Aid. In parallel, since the early '90s, he has been researching, teaching and publishing on the relationship between the environment, peace and stability, and is the author of five recognised books on the environment. He also volunteers as a presenter with Al Gore's Climate Reality Project.
As Senior Advisor in the Knowledge, Innovation and Capacity Group of the UNDP, Mitchell Toomey played an instrumental role in creating an engaging platform for citizens in post-2015 process. He now serves as the Director of the Millennium Campaign ensuring the continuation of active citizenship in the future of sustainable development. 
David Droga is an Advertising Executive and the founder of Droga5, an Australian company which serves as an independent advertising network. In addition to being creative Chairman of Droga5, David was previously worldwide creative director of Publicis Worldwide (2003-2006) and executive creative director of Saatchi & Saatchi London (199-2003). To date, David is the single-most awarded creative at the Cannes International Advertising Festival. In 2005, David was inducted into the American Advertising Federation’s Hall of Achievement. Esquire magazine has featured David in its annual “Best and Brightest” issue three times. While in London, he was named World’s Best Creative Director by Advertising Age. Creative magazine named him Australian Creative Person of the Decade. He was also honored by the Australian Advance committee and named their “Global Australian of The Year.”
A proponent of women’s rights and sexual and reproductive rights, Maria Melinda Ando (or Malyn as she wishes to be called) has brought her expertise to the ARROW for Change bulletin and other publications, where she has published on topics relating to affirmative sexuality, religious fundamentalisms, young women and abortion, migration, food security, and climate change.
A Democracy and Governance Specialist, Mary Jane Ncube works with indigent communities to eradicate corruption while fighting for rule of law. She has spearheaded rural and urban community outreach programs and created greater citizen participation in governance while increasing local government accountability through her post at Transparency International Zimbabwe
Having worked in the United Nations system for more than 25 years in various regions, Jafar Javan has immense experience in policy development, education, training and employment, community development and social participation. 
As the Director of the Diplomatic Academy of Vienna, Hans Winkler is responsible for the economic, strategic and organizational leadership of the institution. Prior to that, he served as the Ambassador of Austria to the Council of Europe in Strasbourg as well as the State Secretary for European and International Affairs. 
María Emma Mejía Vélez is the Permanent Representative of Columbia to the UN and Vice-President of ECOSOC. Prior to her appointment, Ms. Mejía served as Secretary General of the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR), based in Quito, Ecuador. From 2003 until 2011, she was Chief Executive Officer of the Barefoot Foundation, created by Colombian singer Shakira, and served on its Board of Directors until 2014. Ms. Mejía was a member of the Government of Colombia’s Advisory Committee on Foreign Affairs since 1999. Appointed Minister for Foreign Affairs in 1996, she also served as Minister for Education in 1995. From 1993 to 1995, she was Colombia’s Ambassador to Spain, the first woman ever to hold that position. Between 1990 and 1993, she was a Presidential Adviser to President César Gaviria.
In his capacity in the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Ulf Jaeckel heads the division for product policy and consumer affair, which deals with sustainable consumption issues, standard setting, green public procurement, and eco-design.
The President of the Party for Democracy, a Chilean political party, Carolina Tohá has lifelong experience in politics. In 2001 she was elected to Chile’s Chamber of Deputies as a representative of the Santiago district. In 2012, she went on to be elected mayor of Santiago.
Laszlo Borbely has operated for the Romanian cabinet as the Minister of the Environment, the Minister-Delegate of Transportation, and the Minister of Regional Development, Public Works and Housing. He now serves as the President of the Committee for Foreign Policy in the Romanian Parliament.
Swati is the focal point for South and East Asia at the Global Forest Coalition. In addition, she is a fellow at the Ashoka Trust for Research on Ecology and the Environment (ATREE), with expertise on community management and experience following the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change
James Zhan is the Director of Investment and Enterprise at the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD). He also leads the team that publishes the UNCTAD annual World Investment Report. Dr. Zhan has 26 years of national and international experience in the areas of trade, investment, technology, business facilitation and enterprise development, including directing policy research, international consensus-building and technical assistance to more than 160 governments
Ambassador Geir O. Pedersen was appointed Permanent Representative of Norway to the United Nations in 2012. Previously, he was the Director General in the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Department of the United Nations, Peace and Humanitarian Affairs. 
Hazem Fahmy holds the position of Chief of the Multistakeholder Engagement & Outreach branch at DESA’s Financing for Develop Office. Fahmy has also served as the Egyptian mission to the EU and UN. During his term at the UN, he was elected Vice President for Africa on the Executive Board of United Nations Development Programme.
As Senior Counsellor in the Development Co-operation Directorate of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), Ms. Hildegard Lingnau implements and further develops the OECD Strategy to the post-2015 sustainable development. Her 25-year career in national and international contexts include eight years’ field experience as policy advisor to governments in Africa and Asia and several years’ experience in research, policy and management positions in the German Development Institute and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Co−operation and Development respectively. In 2011 she joined the OECD.
Mr. Stefano Prato is the Managing Director of the Society for International Development (SID) and the Editor of SID’s Quarterly Journal “Development”. He is the coordinator of the Civil Society Financing for Development Group and member of the Editing Team of the annual Spotlight Report on Sustainable Development. He currently serves as Co-Chair of the Steering Group of HLPF Major Groups and other Stakeholders Coordination Mechanism. He served as one of the Advisors to the UN Secretary General’s High-Level Panel of Eminent Personalities for the Post-2015 Development Agenda. He is also the co-coordinator of the global Civil Society Nutrition Group and member of the Editorial Board of the Right to Food Watch. He is a very active participant of the Civil Society Mechanism (CSM) of the Committee on World Food Security and co-facilitates the CSM Working Groups on Food Systems & Nutrition, Agroecology, Sustainable Agriculture & Livestock, and SDGs. Before joining SID, he was actively engaged in several Italian development cooperation organizations as well as social development volunteer-based organizations.
From 2009 to 2013, Thomas Gass served as Head of the Mission of Switzerland to Nepal. Before then, Mr. Gass was Head of the Economic and Development Section at the Permanent Mission of Switzerland to the UN in New York, representing Switzerland’s interests to ECOSOC. Currently, Thomas Gass serves as Assistant Secretary-General for Policy Coordination and Inter-Agency Affairs in UN DESA. 
Since August 2016, Gerda Verburg (NL) is serving as UN Assistant Secretary-General and Coordinator of the Scaling Up Nutrition (SUN) Movement, working with the 64 country governments that lead the SUN Movement, united with UN agencies, civil society, business and donors, in a common mission to defeat malnutrition in all its forms.
Adam Bouloukos serves as the Director of the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction, which, as an organization, coordinates international efforts in disaster risk reduction, campaigns to create global awareness of disaster risk reduction, advocates for greater investment in disaster risk reduction, and informs and connects the global population. 
An Austrian politician and member of the Austrian National Council, Petra Bayr has served as the Vice-President of the European Parliamentarian Forum on Population and Development, a Board member of Parliamentarians for Global Action, and a Member of the Governing Council of the Association of European Parliamentarians with Africa. 
Caleb Otto serves Palau as its Permanent Representative to the UN. Prior to that, he was the Interim Executive Director of the Palau Conservation Society and a private consultant in health and social services. Among other positions held, Mr. Otto served as a Senator of the Seventh Olbiil Era Kelulau and Chairman of the Senate Committee on Health and Education between 2005 and 2008. He held a number of positions within Palau’s Bureau of Public Health, including Director from 1998 to 2003 and Chief of Preventive Services between 1994 and 1998. Mr. Otto was Chief of Medical Staff at Belau National Hospital in 1994. Between 1980 and 1984, he was Director of Health Services for the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands, having previously been Chief of Health Planning, from 1978 to 1980.
The International Chamber of Commerce’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Louise Kantrow has been involved in multiple major UN conferences. During RIO+20, she served as co-organizing partner of the Business and Industry Major Group of the UN Conference on Sustainable Development.
His Excellency Mr. Oh Joon currently serves as Vice-President of ECOSOC. He is a career diplomat who served the Republic of Korea in various posts. He was appointed as Ambassador and Permanent Representative of the Republic of Korea to the United Nations in New York in 2013. Prior to this position, he was Ambassador of the Republic of Korea in Singapore from 2010-13 and Deputy Minister for Multilateral and Global Affairs in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade in Seoul from 2008-10. He served as Chairman of the United Nations Disarmament Commission for the 2006 session and represented the Republic of Korea in many meetings of the UN bodies. From 2003-2005, he was Director-General for International Organizations at the Korean Foreign Ministry. During this time, he also chaired the Missile Technology Control Regime.
Sam Kahamba Kutesa was elected President of the United Nations General Assembly’s sixty-ninth session on 11 June 2014. At the time of his election, he was serving as Uganda’s Minister for Foreign Affairs, a post he held since 2005. A lawyer, parliamentarian and businessman, Mr. Kutesa brings to the position wide-ranging experience in international affairs. During his tenure as Foreign Minister, Uganda has hosted high-level meetings of key intergovernmental bodies such as the Commonwealth Heads of Government Summit in 2007, the Council of Ministers of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in 2008, and the African Union (AU) Heads of State Summit in 2010. Uganda also served its two-year term on the UN Security Council as a non-permanent member, in 2009 and 2010.
In 2012, Jan Eliasson was appointed Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. He took office as Deputy Secretary-General on 1 July 2012. Mr. Eliasson was from 2007-2008 the Special Envoy of the UN Secretary-General for Darfur. Prior to this, Jan Eliasson served as President of the 60th session of the UN General Assembly. He was Sweden’s Ambassador to the US from September 2000 until July 2005. In March 2006, Mr. Eliasson was appointed Foreign Minister of Sweden and served in this capacity until the elections in the fall of 2006. Mr. Eliasson served from 1994 to 2000 as State Secretary for Foreign Affairs. Prior to his appointment as Deputy Secretary-General, Jan Eliasson also served as Chair of Water Aid/Sweden and a member of the UN Secretary-General’s Advocacy Group of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
Vladimir Cuk serves as the Executive Director of the International Disability Alliance. Mr. Cuk is responsible for coordinating the IDA Secretariat, IDA advocacy towards the United Nations (UN) system, UN agencies (UNICEF, UNDP, UN Women, ILO, OHCHR, WHO), the World Bank, and other international human rights organizations. In particular, Mr. Cuk is engaged in promoting the rights of persons with disabilities in the post-2015 development agenda and in the work of the UN Open Working Group on the Sustainable Development Goals. He worked for 15 years promoting the rights of young people with disabilities in Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Africa and United States.
Ban Ki-moon is the eighth Secretary-General of the United Nations. His priorities have been to mobilize world leaders around a set of new global challenges, from climate change and economic upheaval to pandemics and increasing pressures involving food, energy and water. He has sought to be a bridge-builder, to give voice to the world’s poorest and most vulnerable people, and to strengthen the Organization itself. Mr. Ban took office on 1 January 2007. On 21 June 2011, he was unanimously re-elected by the General Assembly and will continue to serve until 31 December 2016. 
Ms. Erna Solberg is the Prime Minister of Norway. Prior to that, she was Minister of Local Government and Regional Development 2001-2005, in Kjell Magne Bondevik's Second Government. Ms. Solberg has represented the Conservative Party in the County of Hordaland at the Storting (Parliament) since 1989. At the change of government she was the Conservative Party's parliamentary leader. During the recent Storting period she was member of the Standing Committee on Health and Care Services Affairs, the Standing Committee on Foreign and Defence Affairs and the Electoral Committee, 08.10.2009 - 30.09.2013. She has previously been a member of standing committees on i.a. Finance and Local Government, and head of the Storting's delegation to NATO's Parliamentary Assembly
Mr. Paul Kagame is the sixth and current President of Rwanda having taken office in 2000. Mr. Kagame previously commanded the rebel force that ended the 1994 Rwandan Genocide. He was considered Rwanda's de facto leader when he served as Vice President and Minister of Defence from 1994 to 2000.
Professor Sachs is a world-renowned professor of economics, leader in sustainable development, senior UN advisor, bestselling author, and syndicated columnist whose monthly newspaper columns appear in more than 100 countries. He is the co-recipient of the 2015 Blue Planet Prize, the leading global prize for environmental leadership. Professor Sachs served as the Director of the Earth Institute from 2002 to 2016. He was appointed University Professor at Columbia University in 2016, and also serves as Quetelet Professor of Sustainable Development, and Professor of Health Policy and Management at Columbia University. He is Special Advisor to United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on the Sustainable Development Goals, and previously advised both UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan on the Millennium Development Goals. He is Director of both the Center for Sustainable Development and the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network under the auspices of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.
United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres today announced the appointment of Courtenay Rattray of Jamaica as High Representative for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States. He will succeed Fekitamoeloa Katoa ‘Utoikamanu of Tonga to whom the Secretary-General is grateful for her dedication and commitment to the United Nations.
Ambassador Paul Seger is the Permanent Representative of Switzerland to the UN. He also is on the Chair of the Burundi Configuration, a UN Peace-building Commission which works to address the country’s peacebuilding priorities in the areas of good governance, strengthening the rule of law, community recovery, and land ownership.
Before her appointments as Under-Secretary-General and Executive Secretary of ESCWA, Ms. Khalaf was Assistant Secretary-General and Director of the Regional Bureau for Arab States at the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP),
Scott Vaughan is the International Institute for Sustainable Development President. He has been Canada’s federal Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development, Director of the Department of Sustainable Development of the Organization of American States (OAS), a Visiting Scholar at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Head of Economics at the NAFTA Environment Commission and Counsellor at the World Trade Organization (WTO). Vaughan held various positions with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), including initiating the UNEP Finance Initiative.
Karmenu Vella is one of the longest serving Maltese Parliamentarian with the Malta Labour Party. Prior to serving as a Commissioner for the Environment, Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, he was Minister for Public Works from 1981 to 1984 then Minister of industry from 1984 to 1987. More recently, he served as Minister for Tourism from 1996 to 1998 and again from 2013 to 2014.
Dr. Salifou Dembélé is the Minister for Youth, Professional Training and Employment in Burkina Faso and holds a PhD in tax law. He was an assistant director in the department of training and research in the legal and political sciences of the University of Ouagadougou. He was the secretary in charge of the electoral issues from 2006 to 2008. 
Lisel Alamilla has 18 years of experience working in development, conservation and advocacy. Her career has been moulded by her work with national and community-based development organizations. In 2012, she was appointed as Minister of Forestry, fisheries and Sustainable Development in Belize. Her main interest, based on her personal commitment to the cause, is promoting sustainable development. Ms Alamilla is the recipient of three prestigious awards: the Marsh Award for Conservation Leadership, the Whitley Fund for Nature Award, and the University of Idaho International Alumni Award.
Joseph Severe is currently the executive director of “Union des Amis Socio Culturels d’Action en Développement (UNASCAD)”, an organization that he founded in 1989. He worked for more than 20 years in the fight against AIDS and for the promotion of sex education, as well as the promotion of human rights. Moreover, he worked in the training of the teachers and community leaders with the WHO. Following the earthquake in Haiti in 2010, Joseph worked with UNEP on disaster risk management. Mr. Severe has also been nominated by UNISDR as a delegate in the 30th Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction in SENDAI, Japan.
Kazuyuki Nakane is a member of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) of Japan and the Japanese House of Representatives. He has served as the Deputy Director of Youth Division of LDP and the Director of Committee on Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology
Ms. Khan is Director-General of the International Development Law Organization (IDLO). The first woman to hold this office, she was elected by Member Parties on 17 November 2011 and took up her position formally on 1 January 2012 for a term of four years. She is an international thought leader on human rights, gender and social justice issues. Ms. Khan was Secretary General of Amnesty International from 2001 - 2009. Prior to that, she worked for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees for 21 years at headquarters and in various field operations. She was Visiting Professor at the State University of New York Law School (Buffalo) in 2011. Ms. Khan is a member of the World Bank Advisory Council on Gender and Development. She sits on the boards of several international human rights and development organizations. Ms. Khan received the Sydney Peace Prize in 2006 for her work to end violence against women and girls. Her book, “The Unheard Truth: Poverty and Human Rights” has been translated into seven languages.
Abdul Hamid Zakri serves as the founding Chair at the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services, as the Science Advisor to Malaysia’s Prime Minister, and as one of 26 members of the UN Secretary-General’s Scientific Advisory Board. 
Alfred Kammer is currently a deputy director in the IMF’s Middle East and Central Asia Department. Previously, he was Director of the Office of Technical Assistance Management, overseeing all aspects of the IMF’s technical assistance operations, and fundraising and global partnerships for capacity building. 
Following the decision of Rio +20 to strengthen and upgrade UNEP, Mr. Thiaw played a critical role in the implementation of UNEP’s mandate and its Medium Term Strategy and Programme of Work, as well as worked to catalyze UNEP’s political engagement with governments and intergovernmental processes. Mr. Thiaw’s role also includes advancing the on-going internal performance and reform agenda. Prior to his appointment as Deputy Executive Director Mr. Thiaw served as the Director of the Division of Environmental Policy Implementation (DEPI). As Director for DEPI, Mr. Thiaw was responsible for conceptualizing and managing UNEP's activities in two of its core thematic areas of focus - ecosystem management and services and conflicts and disasters. He also managed the adaptation component of UNEP's climate change sub-theme.
Risnawati Utami’s passionate advocacy for differently-able health care policies led her to work for an Indonesian NGO that promotes rights and access for medical services. In 2004, she won a fellowship through the Ford International Fellowships Program (IFP) to study health policy and management at Brandeis University in the U.S. She later established an NGO called Ohana, where she fights for children’s and differently-abled women’s rights, while advocating for better policies for human rights and public services at the House of representatives. 
Ms Laura Trevelyan is BBC's World News America Anchor. As BBC’s UN correspondent from 2006 to 2009, she covered the diplomatic activity at United Nations HQ in New York and the world body's humanitarian and peacekeeping work. Before moving to New York in 2004, she was a Political Correspondent for BBC Television and Radio News, appointed in June 1999. 
Minister of Social Development and Inclusion and also the Executive President of the Institute for Social Services (Instituto Mixto de Ayuda Social) of Costa Rica. He served as a political advisor to the Legislative Assembly of Costa Rica. Master in Development Studies by the University of Sussex (UK) and in Political Science by the University of Costa Rica. 
Appointed Parliamentary State Secretary to the Federal Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development in February 2014. Prior to this appointment, he was Deputy Chairman of the CDU/CSU Parliamentary Group in the German Parliament. The focus of his work is on core development issues for the future: human rights and good governance, education, health, poverty reduction, water supply and sanitation, energy and resources. Mr Silberhorn also concerns himself with globalisation and trade issues and the new agenda for United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. He is Germany's Governor at the African Development Bank.
Mr. Piotr Otawski, Deputy Minister of Environment, also served as Deputy of the General Director for Environment Protection, adviser of the Minister of Environment, professor Maciej Nowicki, and lecturer at the Higher School of Management and Banking in Poznań. He was also head of the supervisory board of the regional Fund for Environmental Protection and Water Management in Poznań and assistant for a judge in the Voivodship Administrative Court. Mr. Piotr Otawski is the author of several dozen publications related to legal issues of environment protection, in particular in the area of nature protection, and the combination of spatial planning and investment process regulation. 
Jim Clarken is CEO of Oxfam Ireland and is also an Executive Director of the Oxfam International Confederation, sharing collective responsibility for Oxfam’s work in over 90 countries. He plays a key leadership role within the global Oxfam organisation and has been involved in leading the worldwide transformation of the confederation in recent years. Mr Clarken is chair of Dóchas, the umbrella organisation for international development NGOs in Ireland and has also chaired the Consortium on Gender Based Violence. He is a frequent contributor to political debate in the Irish and European Parliaments and EU Commission on a range of development issues. With his international development experience and strong business background, Mr Clarken has been asked to present at a range of major international fora on issues including Trade, Tax Fairness, Climate Justice, Aid Effectiveness, Resilience, Food Security and HIV/AIDS. He is a passionate advocate of the rights of women and the transformative role that women play in development. 
Prior to becoming the Deputy Minister of Foreign and European Affairs in 2012, Mr. Josko Klisović served as Chief of Staff of the Office of the President of the Republic of Croatia, Secretary General of Atlantic Grupa and Director for Support to Croatia’s EU Accession Process at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration, secretary of the Negotiating Group for Croatia’s EU accession negotiations. From 1997 to 2001, he was a counsellor at the Permanent Mission of the Republic of Croatia to the UN. 
Mr. Davies’ career background is in the field of corporate responsibility working for the Confederation of British Industry, Department of Trade and Industry and Business in the Community. Awarded the OBE in 1995 for work in establishing links between business and education under the DTI’s Enterprise Initiative. In 2005, he was appointed Commissioner for Wales and Vice Chair of the UK Sustainable Development Commission, providing independent advice to the Welsh and UK Governments. Following the closure of the UK Commission, Welsh Government appointed him as Wales' first Sustainable Futures Commissioner in April 2011. He was also appointed to be the first independent chair of the Climate Change Commission for Wales in 2011.
Dr. Gitta Trauernicht is the Vice-President for the SOS Children's Villages International, Austria. She is also a member of Parliament for Schleswig-Holstein. Prior to this, she served as Minister for Social Affairs, Health, Family, Youth and Elderly, member of Parliament for Lower Saxony and Minister of Women, Employment and Social Affairs. She was also the head of the Office of the Senate for the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg and Counsellor of State for the first Mayor. She has also been involved in various programmes and initiatives such as the “Child and Youth Action Plan”and the “Guardian Angel Programme”.
Ms. Oyun Sanjaasuren has been a continuously elected Member of Partilament since entering politics in 1998, pushing crucial legislation in areas such as anti-corrupion and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). From 2005 to 2008, she chaired the Mongolian Parliament’s sub-committee on the MDGs and poverty reduction. Dr. Oyun is also the Vice-Chair of Mongolia’s National committee on Sustainable Development, and her ministry is in charge of implementing Mongolia’s post-2015 development goals.
His Excellency Oh Joon was elected seventy-first President of the Economic and Social Council on 24 July 2015. Ambassador Oh is currently the Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Republic of Korea to the United Nations in New York.
Mr. Tun Tun Naing is the Permanent Secretary of Ministry of National Planning and Economic Development of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar. He also serves as Senior Economic Official of Myanmar in ASEAN. His education background was B.Econ (Statistics) Honours, Diploma in Computer Science and M.B.A. He works with development partners of the country, coordinating with NGO/INGO, Donor Agencies, UN Agencies, cooperating with ministerial as well as departmental level within the country. He is coordinating on behalf of the country in order to improve foreign economic relations among other countries.
Mr. M. Riaz Hamidullah joined Bangladesh Civil Service (Foreign Service) in 1995 and since then, served in the Permanent Mission to the UN (New York), diplomatic Mission to India (New Delhi). Mr. M. Riaz Hamidullah worked extensively at both policy and programme levels, on regional cooperation and regional multilateralism within the (Bangladesh) Government as well as at the Secretariat of South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) (as a Director). Since 2011, he serves as a Director General at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, working on European affairs and since 2012, in charge of Multilateral Economic Affairs. In that capacity, he continues to anchor Bangladesh's engagement on Post 2015 process vis-a-vis UN.
She is currently CEO of the "Women in Parliaments Global Forum", an international not-for-profit foundation which serves as the network of the global community of female parliamentarians. Prior to this, Ms. Silvana Koch-Mehrin was Vice-President of European Parliament, Chairwoman of the FDP in the European Parliament, Member of the Committee of Petitions, Substitute of the Committee on Industry, Research and Energy, and Substitute of the Delegation EU-Croatia Joint Parliamentary Committee. In addition, she served as Vice-Chairwomen of the ALDE group, Chairwoman of the FDP in the European Parliament, Member of the Committee on Budgets, Substitute of the Committee on Budgetary Control and Member of the Delegation for relations with the Maghreb countries and the Arab Maghreb Union.
Mr. Pio Wennubst currently serves as the Assistant Director General at the Swiss Agency for Development Cooperation, Federal Department of Foreign Affairs. He joined the Agency in 1995 and was initially posted to Bolivia and subsequently to Madagascar where he was tasked with reorganizing Swiss development cooperation activities. After a period as an economist at the SDC’s head office in Bern, in 2004 Pio Wennubst was appointed SDC country director in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. From 2008 to 2011, he was the deputy permanent representative of the Swiss mission to the Rome-based UN agencies. From 2010, he was also in charge of the SDC’s Global Programme Food Security. He later joined the Swiss permanent mission to the UN in New York as head of the economic and social development team.
Mr. Daniel Lang serves as the Head of Worldwide Customer Relations at Sutherland Global Services, Inc. Mr. Lang served as the Head of Sutherland Community Affairs and Senior Vice President of Americas Operations at Sutherland Global Services, Inc. and as its Senior Vice President of Mexico United States & Canada. Mr. Lang served as Customer Compliance Officer and Senior Vice President at Sutherland Global Services, Inc. Prior to Sutherland, he served at Xerox Corporation's Direct Marketing Organization. Additionally, Mr. Lang is the Executive Spokesperson for the International Free Trade Association located in Washington D.C. He is registered to lobby both the United States Senate and House of Representatives on matters associated with foreign trade legislation, immigration regulations and labor policy.
Ms. Naiara Chaves, an International Relations Analyst who currently serves as the Advocacy Director of Beyond 2015, has served the UN for more than a decade, working as a National Programme Officer at UNAIDS. She has also served the government of Brazil as an advisor at the Presidency of the Republic (National Anti-Drugs Secretariat) and the Ministry of Finance). Naiara worked as UN Public Affairs and Policy Advisor for the World Animal Protection. She holds a master on International Relations at the University of Brasilia (Brazil) and a MBA on Projects from Getulio Vargas Foundation.
A former Australian politician who served as the 27th Prime Minister of Australia and the Australian Labour Party leader from 2010 to 2013, H.E. Ms. Julia Gillard was the first woman to hold both positions. She previously served as Deputy Prime Minister, Minister for Education, Employment and Workplace Relations and Social Inclusion as well as Shadow Minister for Health and Shadow Minister for Employment and Industrial Relations and Social Inclusion. Retiring from political life in 2013, Ms. Gillard joined the Global Partnership for Education, a multilateral partnership devoted to getting all children into school for quality education in the world's poorest countries. Born in Barry, Wales, Ms. Gillard graduated from the University of Melbourne with a Bachelor of Arts and a Bachelor of Laws. She specialized in industrial law before entering politics.
Faeqa Bent Saeed Essaleh is the Minister of Social Affairs in Bahrain. Her department works to implement and achieve equitable welfare and indiscriminate social security and to stimulate economic development through partnership and community participation with civil society organizations and the private sector.
In 1990, Mr. Oporto began his government career in education working as Head of the International Technical Cooperation at the National Council for Technical Education (CONET), Ministry of Culture and Education of Argentina. Between 1992 and 1995, he was Undersecretary of Population of the Ministry of Interior. During this period, he represented Argentina in the Latin American and Caribbean Regional Conference on Population and Development of ECLAC in Mexico DF (1993); in the Second and Third Preparatory Sessions of the International Conference on Population and Development of the United Nations in New York (1993 and 1994); and the International Conference on Population and Development of the United Nations in Cairo (1994). In 1999 he was appointed Secretary of Education for the Directorate General of Culture and Education of Buenos Aires, a position he left to take over as Director General of Culture and Education of the Province of Buenos Aires in December 2001. He served in that role, except between December 2005 and December 2007, when he was Chief of Staff of the Government of the Province of Buenos Aires. In 2011 he left office in the provincial government to take over as a Congressman on behalf of Buenos Aires. In addition, Mr. Oporto is currently a Latin American History Professor at the National University of La Plata and the University of Lanus.
Dr. Josef Moser is President of Austrian Court of Audit and Secretary General of the International Organization of Supreme Audit Institutions (INTOSAI). He assumed office on the 1st of July 2004. Since 2011 he has been Honorary Professor of the Nanjing Audit University in China and since 2009 he has been member of the Working Group on New Administration in Austria. Dr. Moser has professional experience in the private sector and public administration. Dr. Moser was member of the Supervisory Board of the Austrian Railroad Infrastructure Company. He also was a member of the Board of Directors of the Austrian Railroad Holding Company and the Railroad Construction Company. Before his engagement in the private sector, Dr. Moser was Executive Director of a political group in parliament. 
Mr. Kodjo Menan has been the Permanent Representative of Togo to the United Nations since June 2009. Prior to his appointment, Mr. Menan held the post of Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration from May 2007 to April 2009. From December 2002 to May 2007, he was Chargé d’Affaires, ad interim, at the Permanent Mission of Togo to the United Nations in New York. His first posting to New York was from 1997 to 2002, during which time he was in charge of political and legal matters, serving variously as First Secretary, Second Counsellor, First Counsellor and Minister Counsellor. Between 1994 and 1997, Mr. Menan was Officer-in -Charge of Political and Legal Affairs in the Division of Agreements and Treaties of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, having previously been in charge of State Protocol and Consular Matters in the Protocol Division between 1991 and 1994. He was Administrative Secretary at the Bar Association to the Court of Appeal of Lomé, from 1990 to 1991.
John is the Coordinator of the Transparency, Accountability & Participation (TAP) Network in New York, a broad informal coalition of civil society organizations working on accountability and broader governance issues in the context of the post-2015 development agenda. As Coordinator, John helps facilitates the engagement of over 130 CSOs to put together joint advocacy outputs as a Network, as well as their engagement in the Post-2015 processes.
Jos Verbeek is adviser in the office of the World Bank Group President’s Special Envoy on Post 2015 development issues. Prior to this assignment he was acting manager and lead economist in the prospects group of the development economics vice presidency also at the World Bank. In that capacity he managed the Global Monitoring Report, a joint WBG and IMF flagship publication that monitored and reported on policies and institutions that could facilitate attainment of the Millennium Development Goals. Preceding to this assignment, he was a lead economist in the Africa region working primarily on Uganda, Zambia and Malawi. Earlier country assignments include Poland and the Baltic countries. Leading up to his country economics work, Jos was an economist in the development economics vice presidency working on macroeconomic modeling. Jos holds a PhD in economics from the Tinbergen Institute of the Erasmus University of Rotterdam, the Netherlands
H.E. Ms. Endah Murniningtyas is a Deputy Minister for National Resources and Environment at the Ministry of National Development Planning/National Development Planning Agency (BAPPENAS) of Republic of Indonesia. She graduated with a BSc in Agricultural Economics and Social from Bogor Agricultural Institute in 1984, graduated with an MSc in Agricultural and Resource Economics from Oregon State University in 1989, and was awarded a PhD from Colorado State University in 2000 for studies in Agricultural and Resource Economics. She has been working at BAPPENAS for over 25 years in the area of natural resources, economics, and poverty and has been a frequent lecturer at Bogor Agricultural Institute. She is an active board member of Perhimpunan Ekonomi Pertanian Indonesia (Perhepi) and Indonesian Economists Association (ISEI), and also a member of the Long Term Development Planning Study and Strategic Planning Team of BAPPENAS.
Ambassador Dong-Ik Shin has been appointed as Deputy Minister for Multilateral and Global Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Korea since April 2013. Prior to his appointment as Deputy-Minister, he served as Deputy-Permanent Representative at the Korean Mission to the United Nations in New York (2011-2013). He also served as Director-General for International Organizations in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (2008-2010) and was an Advisor at the United Nations Foundation in New York (2010- 2011). He has a variety of experiences in multilateral and UN related affairs. Since joining the Foreign Ministry in 1981, he has also assumed political, economic and consular posts in Seattle (1986-1989), Kuala Lumpur (1992-1995) and Geneva (2001-2003). 
H.E. Mr. Evgeny P. Velikhov is the President of Russia's leading nuclear research centre, the Kurchatov Institute, and a member of the Russian President's Defense Council with portfolios for defense conversion and science policy. A major scientist in plasma physics and controlled thermonuclear fusion, he is the principal science advisor to President Putin, and has also served in this capacity for two previous Russian presidents. Other positions include: First Academician-Secretary of Department of Information Science, Computer Facilities and Automation of USSR Academy of Sciences and Russian Academy of Sciences; Twice elected Vice-President of the USSR Academy of Sciences; Scientific Chief of Studies on controlled thermonuclear fusion in USSR; Russian Representative to the International Council on Controlled Thermonuclear Synthesising at the International Atomic Energy Agency; Chairman of the Board of International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) program (Russia, USA, European Union and Japan); Scientific Chief of the Program for Development and Implementation of Technological Lasers.
Rolf Heuer is a particle physicist with experience working on the PETRA electron-positron storage ring. He is now the Director General of CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research. In 2013, scientists at CERN discovered conclusive evidence of the Higgs-Boson particle using the Large Hadron Collider. 
Aldo Lale Demoz is the Deputy Executive-Director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. Mr. Aldo Lale-Demoz began his United Nations career in 1985 with the International Maritime Organization as Coordinator in the Technical Cooperation Division. In 1992 he served with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) as Chief of the Latin America Unit, and in 1994 he was subsequently transferred to the United Nations International Drug Control Programme (UNDCP). Mr. Lale-Demoz has been serving as Senior Programme Manager for Latin America, the Caribbean and Sub-Saharan Africa since 1997. From December 2002 through April 2003, he was Officer-in-Charge of UNODC's Operations Branch. Prior to joining the U.N. he was employed with the Caribbean Council and the American Consortium for International Public Administration, both consulting firms located in Washington, D.C.
Megan Arrowsmith Haddock is the International Research Projects Manager at Johns Hopkins Center for Civil Society Studies (CCSS). The CCSS works to generate research and knowledge about the nonprofit sector, social investing, and the tools of government.
Macharia Kamau is the Ambassador and Permanent Representative of the Kenyan Mission to the United Nations. Along with the Irish Ambassador to the United Nations, Mr. Kamau is the cofacilitator for the intergovernmental negotiations on the post-2015 development agenda and was the co-chair of the UN Open Working Group on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
