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Home > WCO 2004 > NYC Events > UN Speakers Profile |
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Speakers Profile |
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Dr. Ahmed Said Ould Bah
Secretariat Chair, Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
Dr. Ould Bah began his academic career as Chair of English Studies at the University of Nouakchott in Mauritania, and then went on to lecture at the University of Saint-Louis in Senegal. In 1996, he was appointed Education Programme Specialist at ISESCO, following which he served as head of the Islamic and Arabic Cooperation Section there. He now serves as Chairman of the Secretariat of the General Conference & Executive Council & Chairman of the General Secretariat of the Federation of the Universities of the Islamic World.
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Dr. Jerome Binde
Deputy Assistant Director-General for Social and Human Sciences on behalf of the Director-General of UNESCO
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Dr. Johan Galtung
Director, TRANSCEND, Professor of Peace Studies
Johan Galtung is founder and Director of TRANSCEND (A Peace and Development Network for Conflict Transformation by Peaceful Means). As a Professor of Peace Studies, he is widely regarded as the founder of the academic discipline of peace research and a pioneer of peace and conflict transformation in theory and practice. He has helped mediate and prevent violence in 45 major global conflicts over the past four decades and is author of the United Nations¡¯ first ever manual for trainers and participants on "Conflict Transformation by Peaceful Means: The TRANSCEND Approach" (UNDP 2000).
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Dr. Seok Hyun Hong
President, World Culture Open Committee
Dr. Seok Hyun Hong is publisher, chairman and CEO of the South Korea¡¯s leading daily newspaper, the JoongAng Ilbo. He currently serves as President of the World Association of Newspapers, a position to which he was elected in May 2002. He received degrees in Electronics Engineering and Industrial Engineering and a Ph.D. in Economics from Stanford University. He served as an economist to the World Bank from 1977 to 1983 before working with the Korean government in the Ministry of Finance and the office of the President. He is also a member of The Trilateral Commission; the Advisory Council for the Asian Studies Center of The Heritage Foundation; and the Advisory Council of the Korea Society. He currently serves on the board of the Asia Society.
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Dr. Aleksandr Ilitchev
Senior Officer, Department of Political Affairs of the United Nations
Aleksandr N. Ilitchev graduated from the Moscow State Institute for International Relations (M.A. in international relations and journalism) in June 1974. Between July 1974 and October 1992 he was with the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In October 1992 he joined the Department of Political Affairs, United Nations Secretariat and since February 1997 he has been a Senior Officer with the Division of Asia and the Pacific, Department of Political Affairs, United Nations Headquarters in New York. He accompanied the Secretary-General on trips to Northeast Asia in 1999-2004. Since January 2003, he has assisted the Personal Envoy of the Secretary-General on issues related to the Korean Peninsula.
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Dr. Hans Küng
Eberhard Karls Universitat Tubingen, Institut fur Okumenische Forschung, President, Global Ethics Foundation
Hans Küng studied theology and philosophy at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome and was ordained in 1954. In 1962, he was appointed peritus by Pope John XXIII, serving as a theological advisor to members of the Second Vatican Council until its conclusion in 1965. He became the first major Roman Catholic theologian to reject the doctrine of papal infallibility, and consequently, on December 18, 1979, he was stripped of his right to teach as a Roman Catholic theologian but carried on teaching as a tenured professor of ecumenical theology at the University of Tubingen until his retirement in 1996. Since 1995 he has been President of the Foundation for a Global Ethic, an organization attempting to describe what the world religions have in common rather than what separates them.
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H.E. Ambassador Mokhtar Lamani
Permanent Observer, Organization of the Islamic Conference to the UN
Ambassador Lamani received a Masters in Law from Hassan II University in Morocco in 1977 before beginning his 15-year career with the General Secretariat of the League of Arab States. Beginning as Coordinator of Afro-Arab cooperation, he worked to become the Deputy Permanent Observer to the United Nations. Since January 1998, he has been the Ambassador Permanent Observer of the OIC to the United Nations while also serving as an organizer of several interfaith meetings in New York, as a coordinator of the Islamic Group to the United Nations, and as a Member of the International Board of Trustees of the World Conference on Religion and Peace.
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Dr. Chung Ok Lee
Co-Chair of WCO Strategic Co-Chair of WCO Strategic Planning Committee; Co-President of World Conference of Religion for Peace
Dr. Lee is Co-President of World Conference of Religion for Peace, of Religion for Peace-USA, Co-Chair of WCO Strategic Strategic Planning Committee and Head Minister of Manhattan Won Buddhist Temple. At the United Nations, she served as the Chair of the Universal Ethics Millennium Conference, the President of the Committee of Religious NGOs, and Founding Co-Chair of the Values Caucus. Dr. Lee has written various publications and delivered keynote addresses on women¡¯s issues, human rights, religious pluralism and universal ethics at many international conferences. She is a spiritual teacher, peace activist and scholar who earned her M.A and Ph.D. from New York University.
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Dr. Ali A. Mazrui
Director, the Institute of Global Cultural Studies, Binghamton University
Upon completing his doctorate at Oxford University, Dr. Mazrui joined the faculty of Makerere University as the head of the Department of Political Science and Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences. In 1974, he became a professor of the University of Michigan and later the Director of the Center for Afro-American and African Studies. In 1989, he was appointed the Albert Schweitzer Professor in the Humanities at Binghamton University (State University of New York) and the Director of the Institute of Global Cultural Studies (IGCS). He is author or co-author of more than twenty books and the creator of the much acclaimed television series The Africans: A Triple Heritage.
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H.E. Minister Miguel Costa Mkaima
Miguel Costa Mkaima finished his primary education in 1969 and then helped fight for Mozambique¡¯s independence. In 1975, he served as the Director of the Center of Formation of Professors until 1977, when he became Provincial Director of Education and Culture of Cabo Delgado. From 1981 to 1984, he was a professor in the city of Beira before going to Berlin to continue his studies, graduating from Humboldt University in 1992. Returning to Mozambique, he was Technician of Inquiry from 1994 to 1995, and Director of the National Museum of Art until his appointment to Minister of Culture in January 2000. He belongs to the International Council of Museums in Paris and to the Association of Professionals of Museums and Monuments of the SADC.
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H.E. Sissoko Cheick Oumar
Minister of Culture, Mali
Cheick Oumar Sissoko studied filmmaking at the Ecole Nationale Louis Lumiere in Paris. Upon his return to Mali he worked as filmmaker at the Centre National de Production Cinematographique (CNPC). He helped create Kora Films, a collective production company. In 1986, the Festival of the 3 Continents showed his film Nyamanton (i.e. "The Garbage Boys") in competition. Over the last fourteen years, Cheick-Oumar Sissoko has worked hard for African cinema, which is highly respected but lacks funding for both films and filmmakers. As Minister of Culture, Cheick Oumar Sissoki wishes to give priority to the promulgation of local culture, to the protection of artists¡¯ rights and to the construction of performance facilities.
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Dr. Han S. Park
University Professor of International Affairs and Director, GLOBIS, University of Georgia
Dr. Han S. Park is University Professor of International Affairs and Director of the Center for the Study of Global Issues (GLOBIS) at the University of Georgia. Dr. Park¡¯s work has primarily focused on human rights, sustainable development, and East Asian politics. Dr. Park received advanced degrees in Political Science from Seoul National University (B.A.), the American University (M.A.) and the University of Minnesota (Ph.D.). He is the organizer and founding president of Uniting Families, Inc., a company that has helped reunite many separated families in China and Korea. As an expert analyst, he has appeared regularly on CNN International and The News Hour with Jim Lehrer on PBS, and serves as a consultant/analyst for ABC News.
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H.E. Marjatta Rasi
Permanent Representative of Finland to the United Nations; President of ECOSOC
Ambassador Marjatta Rasi studied law at Helsinki University before beginning her career. She served as Second Secretary in London and Paris before becoming Secretary of Section at the Ministry in 1977. Ambassador Rasi¡¯s first assignment at the United Nations was as Counsellor in Finland¡¯s Permanent Mission to the Organization in 1979. From 1983 to 1986, she served as Counsellor in Finland¡¯s Foreign Ministry and became Director of the United Nations¡¯ Political Department in 1986. In 1987, she became Deputy Permanent Representative to the United Nations. Between 1991 and 1995, she was Finland¡¯s Ambassador to New Delhi, Dhaka, Colombo, Kathmandu and Thimphu. Marjatta Rasi is now the Permanent Representative of Finland to the United Nations.
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H.E. Mathilde Ribeiro
Minister for the Promotion of Racial Equality, Brazil
Matilde Ribeiro graduated from the Catholic University Pontificia in Sao Paulo where she earned degrees in Social Sciences and Social Psychology. She started her career developing the "Brazil without Racism" program, which in turn led to the creation of SEPPIR. She has been an advisor at the Centre for the Studies on Labour Relations and Inequality (CEERT) and later served as coordinator of the Social Relations Program regarding Gender, Racial Discrimination and Ethnicity at the Institute of Cajamar in Sao Paulo and coordinator for the Advisor for Women¡¯s Rights of the Municipality of Santo Andre. In March 2003, she became a Minister in the LULA Government when she became the "Special Secretary for the Politics to Promote Racial Equality for the Presidency of the Republic of Brazil".
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Dr. Nancy Roof
Founding President of Spirituality and Global Affairs
Dr. Nancy Roof is Founding President of Spirituality and Global Affairs, which publishes Kosmos, an international Journal exploring interior development and cultural values and their impact on global systems. Her testimony on the human dimension of the United Nations was distributed to the US President and Congress. Working with 78 international organizations in war zones she wrote the first sorkbook on the Impact of War on Service Providers. At the United Nations she co-founded the Values Caucus and the Spiritual Caucus.
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Beatriz Schulthess
President, Return to the Earth, Indigenous Spirituality
Beatriz Schulthess is an Indigenous Priestess, President of Return to the Earth, a member of the Governing Board of WCRP/Religions for Peace, and the Coordinator of the Costa Rican Caribbean Women¡¯s Network. She has actively advocated for the rights of indigenous peoples and women within the United Nations and other Forums since 1997. She has worked with international organizations in developing programs that have focused on generating equal opportunities for all people and promoting a better understanding between cultures and faith communities. Mrs. Schulthess facilitated the creation of the Indigenous Peoples Spiritual Council in 1996. She was born in Argentina, was adopted by Swiss parents and is currently married and living in Costa Rica.
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Dr. William Vendley
Secretary General, World Conference of Religion for Peace
William F. Vendley, Ph. D. has served as Secretary General of the World Conference of Religions for Peace/International (Religions for Peace) since 1994. Under Dr. Vendley¡¯s leadership, Religions for Peace has helped to mediate several violent conflicts and supported religious communities in assisting 12 million orphans of HIV/AIDS in Africa. Dr. Vendley is a theologian and a professor and lectures frequently. He serves on the boards of a number of organizations ranging from the fine arts to those committed to peacebuilding. He holds a Doctor of Philosophy in Systematic Theology from Fordham University and a Master of Arts in Religious Studies from the Maryknoll School of Theology.
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