Joana Gaspar is at present the Coordinator of the Centre for Strategic Studies and Analysis of the Diplomatic Institute of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Portugal.  She started her career in the Portuguese diplomatic service in June 1997, having completed a degree in International Relations at the Institute of Social and Political Sciences in Lisbon and at the Robert Schuman University in Strasbourg. She has a Master’s degree on International relations with a thesis on “The diplomat in the 21st century. Continuities and changes in diplomatic practice in the face of technological evolution – the Portuguese case”.  

Joana teaches “Diplomatic Practice” to 2nd and 3rd year students of Political Science and International Relations of Nova University Lisbon. 

Her earlier posts have included Adviser to the Minister of State and Foreign Affairs, Consul-General of Portugal in London , and Head of NATO Unit of the Director General for Foreign Policy.  She is an official of the National Order of Merit of the French Republic. 

Born in Lisbon, she and her two children currently live in Lisbon.

 

Hind Kabawat is a prominent figure in interfaith peacebuilding and conflict resolution, focusing on Syria. Currently, she serves as the director of interfaith peacebuilding at the Centre for World Religions and Diplomacy, is a member of the High Negotiations Committee (HNC) for Syria in Geneva, and is the President and co-founder of Tastakel, an organization dedicated to peace and reconciliation through women’s empowerment and education. In her role as the deputy head of the HNC office, she actively participates in the Syrian peace talks.

Hind Kabawat received the Tanenbaum Peacemakers in Action Award in 2007 and the Public Diplomacy Award from George Mason University in 2009. 

Ambassador Belen Alfaro is currently Senior Advisor for Mediation, Preventive Diplomacy and Dialogue in the Cabinet of the Secretary of State for Foreign and Global Affairs in Madrid.  Before taking up her current office, she was Ambassador to the State of Qatar from 2018 to 2022, and Ambassador in Special Mission for the Alliance of Civilizations and for Interreligious Dialogue between 2011-2018.

With over 30 years of experience in the diplomatic services, Belen has been at the forefront of political events and international relations. After graduating in Law at the Complutense University of Madrid, Belen entered the Spanish Diplomatic Service in 1991.  

Her early career saw her in diplomatic postings as Head of Service at the Human Rights Office in Madrid and then Counsellor at the Cabinet of the Vice Minister for the European Union in Brussels. In 1997 she was appointed Counsellor at the Permanent Mission of Spain to the European Union in Brussels and in 2002 moved on to Islamabad, taking up office as Deputy Head of Mission at the Embassy of Spain to Pakistan.

Back in Spain, she held office at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as Senior Counsellor for Foreign Policy with the Middle East and North Africa beforehand. In 2006 she moved to New York as Minister Counsellor for Political Affairs at the Mission of Spain to the United Nations.

Her Excellency the Ambassador Betty Bigombe is currently the Ugandan Ambassador to Malaysia. Prior to this appointment, she was the Ugandan Special Envoy to the peace process in South Sudan.   

Betty Bigombe has been the Senior Director, Fragility, Conflict and Violence at the World Bank and has played a key role in conflict resolution in Africa. She led the peace and humanitarian efforts in northern Uganda, first in the 1990s as Minister of State for Northern Uganda and again as chief mediator to the conflict in the mid-2000s.

She is a recipient of many international awards including Tanenbaum’s Peacemakers in Action Award in 2007 and the Ordre national de la Légion d’honneur in 2016, among many other awards honoring her long-standing commitment to peace and humanitarian affairs throughout her career. Prior to her appointment to the World Bank Group, Bigombe served as State Minister for Water Resources in the Ugandan Cabinet and as a Member of Parliament.