Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue

People

Honorary President

Javier Solana

Board

The Board normally meets four times a year. It sets the mission and the general policy of the Foundation and provides overall supervision of its Management and Administration.

  • Brooks, Jermyn - Board Member & Chairman of the Audit and Finance Committee
    Executive Director and CFO of Transparency International (TI) from 2000-2003; member of its Board of Directors since 2003. Elected Senior Partner of the Pricewaterhouse (PW) firm in Germany in 1989; Senior Partner of PW Europe in 1993, and worldwide Chairman of the firm in 1997. Played a key role in negotiating the PwC merger in 1998; championed the introduction of corporate social responsibility and sustainability issues into PwC's strategies. Supports TI's work on an integrity standard for the private sector and on improving banking controls over money laundering and the contribution of good accounting and auditing to greater corporate transparency and accountability.
  • Guéhenno, Jean-Marie - Chairman of the Board

    Elected Chairman of the Board of the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue at the end of 2010. Arnold Saltzman Professor of Professional Practice at Columbia University and Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution; Former French diplomat; United Nations' Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, 2000 - 2008. Member of the Cour des Comptes, Paris, 1976 - 2000; Chairman, Institut des hautes études de défense nationale, 1998 - 2000; Officer of the ‘Légion d'honneur' and Commander of the ‘Bundesverdienstkreuz'.

  • Helgesen Vidar - Board Member

    Secretary-General of the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance, from 2006; Norway Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, 2001 - 2005; Special Adviser to the President of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies in Geneva, 1998 - 2001. Member of the Central Executive Committee of the Young Conservatives in Norway; ran the Conservative Party's national campaign for the EU referendum in 1994.

  • Jestin, Karin - Board member

    Chairman of the Board of the HD Centre from 2008 to 2010. Secretary-General of Fondation 1796, founded by the partners of Lombard Odier Darier Hentsch & Cie. Consultant in social sector strategies, organisational development and philanthropy; former Director, Foundation Strategy Group; former Senior Adviser, International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.

  • Khan, Irene - Board Member
    Secretary General of Amnesty International (2001-2009); Senior Executive Officer to Mrs. Sadako Ogata, then UN High Commissioner for Refugees (1991-1995); Appointed UNHCR Chief of Mission in India in1995; Headed the UNHCR Centre for Research and Documentation in 1998 and led the UNHCR team in Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia during the Kosovo crisis in 1999. Appointed UNHCR Deputy Director of International Protection the same year.
  • Loretan, Raymond - Board Member
    Founding Partner of the consultancy practice - Fasel Balet Loretan associés; Worked for the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs as Diplomatic Secretary to Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs Edouard Brunner; Personal Assistant to Federal Councillor Arnold Koller at the Federal Department of Defence and at the Federal Department of Justice and Police; Swiss Ambassador to Singapore and Brunei; Consul General of Switzerland in New York in 2002 with the title of Ambassador; Member of the Swiss Christian Democratic Party (SCDP) and Secretary General of the SCDP (1993-1997); Chairman of the Board of the Genolier Swiss Medical Network Group and of the Société Suisse des Explosifs Group, and member of the Board of various organisations including the Balet Béjart Foundation, the International Tourism Foundation and the American Swiss Foundation.
  • Salamé, Ghassan - Board Member
    Dean of the Paris School of International Affairs  (PSIA) and joint professor of international relations at Sciences Po in Paris and at Columbia University in New York; Senior Advisor to the United Nations Secretary-General (October 2003-2006); Political Advisor to the UN Mission in Iraq (June-October 2003); Minister of Culture in the Lebanon Government (2000-2003); Chairman and Spokesman of the Organization Committee for the Arab Summit (March 2002) and of the Francophone Summit (October 2002) in Beirut; Member of the Boards of various organisations, including the International Crisis Group (Brussels) and the International Peace Institute (New York); Chairman of the Board of the Arab Fund for Arts and Culture, and co-founder the Euro-Mediterranean Chair at the European University Institute, Florence, Italy (1999-2000); Has written extensively on international relations issues.
  • Staehelin, Jenö C. A. (Amb.) - Vice Chairman of the Board

    Head of Europe and North America Division, Swiss Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 1986 - 1993; Ambassador to Japan, 1993 - 1997, and to the United Nations in New York, 1997 - 2004. Chairman of the Board of UNICEF, 2003; Member of the International Committee of the Red Cross, from 2006; member of the board of Schindler Holding AG, from 1980.

  • Steimer, Olivier - Board Member

    1983 - 2002, with Credit Suisse Group: domestic and international banking including Head, Geneva Region; Member, Executive Board, Private Banking and Financial Services;Chief Executive Officer, Private Banking International. Since 2002, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Banque Cantonale Vaudoise; Banque Piguet & Cie SA; Chairman of the Foundation Board of the Swiss Finance Institute; Member of the Council of Swiss National Bank; Member of the Board of Directors of Swiss Federal Railways; Ace Ltd; Renault
    Finance SA; economiesuisse.


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