Ms. Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana was appointed Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) on 13 September 2018.

Prior to joining ESCAP, Ms. Alisjahbana was Professor of Economics at Universitas Padjadjaran in Bandung, Indonesia, a position she assumed in 2005. She joined Universitas Padjadjaran as a lecturer in 1988. Since 2016, she has served as Director for the Center for Sustainable Development Goals Studies at Universitas Padjadjaran and Vice Chair of the Indonesian Academy of Sciences.

She also serves on the Governing Board of the Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA), and member of the Indonesian Academy of Sciences (Akademi Ilmu Pengetahuan Indonesia - AIPI), the Forum of Statistics Community (Forum Masyarakat Statistik or Advisory Council of the Indonesian Statistics), the International Advisory Board of the Bulletin of Indonesian Economic Studies and Council Member of the Regional Science Association International (RSAI).

From 2009 to 2014, she was Minister of National Development Planning and the Head of the National Development Planning Agency (BAPPENAS), Indonesia. She served as Co-chair of the Global Partnership for Effective Development Cooperation from 2012 to 2014. From 2009 to 2014, she was Alternate Governor of the World Bank and Alternate Governor of the Asian Development Bank representing the government of Indonesia. In 2016, she was a member of the High Level Independent Team of Advisors to support the ECOSOC Dialogue on the longer term positioning of the United Nations Development System in the context of the 2030 Agenda on Sustainable Development.

Ms. Alisjahbana has been involved in various research projects and consultancies to the United Nations University/Institute for Advanced Study in Tokyo, the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), Australia, the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID), the European Commission, and the International Labor Organization (ILO).

Ms. Alisjahbana earned her Bachelor degree in Economics and Development Studies from Universitas Indonesia, Indonesia, a Masters degree in Economics from Northwestern University, USA and a Ph.D in Economics from University of Washington, USA. She was awarded the Mahaputra Adipradana Order (Bintang Mahaputra Adipradana) from the Republic of Indonesia, honorary brevet from the Indonesian Navy and honorary flight wing from the Indonesian Air Force.

Ms. Amina J. Mohammed is the Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations. Prior she was Minister of Environment of the Federal Republic in Nigeria and Special Adviser to Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. She also served as Special Adviser on the Millennium Development Goals, as well as international advisory boards, one of them being the UN Secretary-General’s High-level Panel on Post-2015 Development Agenda. Also, she is an Adjunct Professor in Development Practice at Columbia University.

In December 2021, Mr. Chindawongse was named the Permanent Representative of Thailand to the United Nations. Before his latest appointment, he was Thailand’s ambassador to Singapore, a post he held since 2020.

From 2017 to 2020, he served as Director-General of his Government’s Department of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Affairs.  He served in a range of progressively senior positions with that Department from 2008 to 2015.  From 2006 to 2008, he served as Counsellor with the Office of the Foreign Minister, and from 2005 to 2006, he was Counsellor to the Chief of UNSG Campaign Task Unit, within the Government’s International Organizations Department.

Having entered Government service in 1993, Mr. Chindawongse has also held various other positions, including with the Permanent Mission of Thailand to the United Nations in New York.

Ms. Kanni Wignaraja began her role as UNDP’s Assistant  Administrator and Director of the Regional Bureau for Asia and the Pacific on 18 November 2019. Before, Ms. Wignaraja served as the Acting Assistant Administrator and Director of UNDP’s Bureau of Management Services and as Special Adviser to the UNDP Administrator, roles that she performed throughout 2019 after working as the Director of the UN Development Operations Coordination Office from 2014 to 2018. Ms. Wignaraja has over twenty-five years of experience of the UN’s mission and UNDP’s role in the sustainable development agenda. She has a deep knowledge of the Asia-Pacific region, as well as the global, regional and country level workings of UNDP, across policy, programme, management and operations. Prior to joining the UN, Kanni worked with the Ford Foundation in New York. Kanni has contributed to numerous papers, articles and conferences in areas of public policy, institutional reform, capacity development, human rights and leadership. Ms. Wignaraja holds a Master’s degree in Public Administration (Development Economics) from Princeton University and a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from Bryn Mawr College. She is married and has two children.

Dr. M'jid, a medical doctor in paediatrics, has over the last three decades devoted her life to the promotion and protection of children’s rights. She was Head of the Paediatric Department and Director of the Hay Hassani Mother-Child hospital in Casablanca.

Dr. M'jid was a member of the Moroccan National Council on Human Rights and founder of the non-governmental organisation Bayti, the first programme addressing the situation of children living and working in the streets of Morocco. From 2008 to 2014, she served as United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography.

Dr. M’jid also worked as an Expert-Consultant for national and international projects, strategies and policies relating to child rights’ promotion and protection. She has vast experience in the development of national policies on the protection of the child, and has worked with several governments, non-governmental and inter-governmental organisations.

She also worked as a lecturer in Moroccan and international universities on child rights’ protection, promotion, programming and monitoring, as well as social and development policies. A member of several regional and international non-governmental organisations and networks working for children’s rights, Dr. M’jid was also involved in the training of social workers, law enforcement, teachers, judges, and medical staff.

Dr. M’jid holds a Doctorate in general medicine from the University of Rabat, a specialization in paediatrics and neonatology from the University of Bordeaux II and a Master of Human Rights from the Human Rights Institute, Geneva. She is the recipient of numerous awards and honours for her strong commitment to protecting the rights of the child.

Kailash Satyarthi is a renowned Indian child rights activist and the winner of the Nobel Peace Prize in 2014. He is the founder of the Bachpan Bachao Andolan (BBA), an organization dedicated to the eradication of child labour and rehabilitation of the rescued former child workers. Satyarthi has been working as a children’s rights activist for the past many years and has liberated over 80,000 child labourers since 1980. He studied to become an electrical engineer but this left this profession to work for the welfare of child labourers, many of whom were forced to work by their parents while others were held as bonded labourers by business houses.

He formed the Bachpan Bachao Andolan (BBA), the first organization in India which highlights the issue of child labour and works towards rescuing the children who are forcibly made to work in different industries. His works have so far led to the rescue of several thousands of child labourers who are provided opportunities for rehabilitation.

He has been honoured with several awards for his relentless humanitarian work, including the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award in 1995 and the Nobel Peace Prize in 2014 which he shares with the Pakistani activist Malala Yousafzay.

He has served as a member of the UNESCO’s Education for All and has addressed the U.N.’s General Assembly, International Labour Conference, and U.N. Human Rights Commission.

Her Excellency Ms. Ayush Ariunzaya is currently the Minister for Labor and Social Protection of Mongolia. She has extensive experience in sustainable development, regional and international cooperation. From 2016-2020 she was the Chairperson of National Statistics Office of Mongolia where she shared as a Co-Chair of High-level Group for Partnership, Coordination and Capacity-Building for Statistics for the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. She is also the Chair of the Partnership in Statistics for Development in the 21st Century (PARIS21) and was the President of ANCSDAAP in 2018-2020.

She has an M.A. from Leibniz University in Germany, attended the Moscow State Institute of International Relations and also earned a degree in Public Governance from the National Academy of Governance of Mongolia. Ms. Ariunzaya previously worked as the Chief Manager at Mongol Daatgal and as the Head of the Strategic Planning Department and Economic Policy Department of the Mongolian People 's Party (MPP).

Mohamed Uvais Mohamed Ali Sabry, PC, MP is a Sri Lankan lawyer and politician. He is the current Minister of Justice and Member of Parliament, appointed from the national list of the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna. He served as the defense counsel of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, chief legal adviser and President of the Muslim Federation of the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna.

His Excellency Muhammetgeldi Serdarov is a Turkmen politician and economist, serving since July 2020 as Ministry of Finance of Turkmenistan. He graduated from the Turkmen State Institute of Transport and Communications, Transport Economy and Management Faculty in 2000 and received a degree in Engineering Economics. Among many achievements, in 2015, Serdarov was appointed head of the Main Directorate of Economics and Development of Ashgabat. By 2019, he was made head of the Main Directorate for Finances and Economics. That same year, he was appointed deputy minister of economy and finance of Turkmenistan. He was appointed head of the ministry on July 3, 2020. Mr. Muhammetgeldi Serdarov is the World Bank Governor, National Сoordinator of EU Technical Assistance to Turkmenistan, National Focal Point for Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation Program (CAREC). 

Mathias Cormann is the 6th Secretary-General of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Prior to his appointment to the OECD, Mathias served as the Australian Minister for Finance, the Leader of the Government in the Australian Senate and as Federal Senator representing the State of Western Australia. In these roles, he has been a strong advocate for the positive power of open markets, free trade and the importance of a rules-based international trading system. Mathias had graduated in law at the Flemish Catholic University of Louvain (Leuven), following studies at the University of Namur and, as part of the European Erasmus Student Exchange Program, at the University of East Anglia. Between 1997 and 2003, he worked as Chief of Staff as well as Senior Adviser to various State and Federal Ministers in Australia and for the Premier of Western Australia.Between 2003 and 2007, Mathias worked for major Western Australian health insurer HBF in a range of senior management roles.

Julien Harneis of the United Kingdom joined as the UN Resident Coordinator and Humanitarian Coordinator in Pakistan on 31 January 2020. Mr. Harneis brings 31 years of experience in development cooperation, humanitarian assistance and management. He was previously serving as Deputy Humanitarian Coordinator in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), before which he served as Head of Office for the Office of Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Nigeria, UNICEF Representative in Yemen and in Guinea, as well as humanitarian positions in the DRC, Lebanon and Indonesia. Prior to joining the United Nations, Mr Harneis worked in the private sector. He holds a Master of Studies in International Relations from the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom, and a Master of Business Administration from the Institute Européen d'Administration des Affaires (INSEAD) in France. 

Ms Singer, who was appointed UN Resident Coordinator in Sri Lanka in September 2018, has close to 30 years of experience with the UN. Prior to taking up her current role, she has held several senior management positions in UNICEF offices across the world. She was the Associate Regional Director UNICEF Geneva, Country Representative for UNICEF Syria, Nepal, Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan. Ms Singer has led humanitarian programmes in Burundi and Haiti, and managed cross border humanitarian operations to Afghanistan and Iraq. A national of Egypt, Ms Singer holds a Master's degree in Political Sociology and a Bachelor's degree in Political Science from the American University in Cairo, Egypt. She also holds a diploma in “Planning and Management of Decentralized Development Projects” from Bradford University in the United Kingdom.

Mr. Gustavo González brings more than 25 years of extensive managerial and leadership experience in development, humanitarian affairs and peacebuilding, performing for several UN entities across 3 continents (Central America, Africa and Middle-East). More recently, Mr. González worked for the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) as Director of the Business Development and Resource Mobilization Division. Prior to that, he was the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Sub regional Development Coordinator for the Syria-related Crisis (2013-2017) covering operations in Egypt, Iraq, Lebanon, Jordan, Syria and Turkey. Before that, he was the UNDP Senior Country Director in Yemen (2011- 2013) during the Arab Spring transition, Country Director in Burundi (2007-2011) and Head of the Post-Conflict Unit in the Democratic Republic of Congo (2003-07).

He also served in various peacebuilding and reconstruction programmes in Guinea Bissau (2000-2002), working for the International Organization for Migration (IOM); in Central African Republic (1998-2000), for the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS); in Angola, Liberia and Mozambique (1994-1997) for the UN Department of Humanitarian Affairs, and in Nicaragua (1990-1994), for the Organization of American States (OAS). Mr. Gonzalez holds a Master Diploma from the University of Oxford-Said Business School (UK), and a Master in Philosophy from the Universidad del Salvador (Argentina). He is fluent in English, French, Portuguese and Spanish.

Sanaka Samarasinha commenced his appointment as the United Nations Resident Coordinator for the Republic of Fiji in 2018, with multi-country coverage of nine other Pacific Island Countries. Sanaka had served as the UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative (RC/RR) in Minsk and UNFPA Representative in Belarus (2013-2018). Before this appointment, Sanaka served in various offices of the UN and UNDP. Before joining the UN, he worked in the legal profession and in journalism, with government, civil society and the private sector in several different countries including the USA, South Africa and India.

Ms. Friberg-Storey brings over 20 years of experience working in peace, security and development to this position.  Most recently, she has worked on strategic leadership of humanitarian operations and diplomacy for the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement through the Swedish Red Cross and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC).  She also served as Head of the Security Sector Reform Division of the Agency for Peace, Security and Development of the Swedish Government and worked at the Security Policy Department of the Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs.

Under the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK), Ms. Friberg-Storey also headed the Election Field Operations of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), held the position of Director of the European Union Integration Office, and served as the United Nations Special Envoy for Kosovo.  She started her international career with Médecins Sans Frontières.

Ms. Friberg-Storey holds a Bachelor of Arts in political science from Stockholm University and completed a post-graduate master’s degree in humanitarian assistance at Uppsala University.

Beverly L. Longid is an Igorot belonging to the Kankanaey-Bontok of the Mountain Province, Cordillera, Philippines. She is a longtime indigenous and human rights activist based in the Philippines. Beverly is currently the global coordinator of the International Indigenous Peoples Movement for Self-Determination and Liberation (IPMSDL), a global network of Indigenous Peoples organizations and communities at the grassroots, and a member of the Executive Council of the Asia Indigenous Peoples Pact (AIPP). She is actively involved in campaigns and capacity development for indigenous communities on land, life, and resources; and forging solidarity and effective development cooperation between and among Indigenous Peoples and other groups.

Tirtha Prasad Saikia is a frontline development activist associated in a wide range of community-based interventions and rooted in the civil society sphere with his grassroot experience, passion and visionary leadership. Tirtha is the Joint Director of North-East Affected Area Development Society (NEADS), a local organisation working with poor people in their struggle against humanitarian crisis, exploitation & poverty based in the state of Assam in north-eastern region of India. At NEADS, he has worked for the last 10+ years across a diversity of interventions including humanitarian response and advocacy, disaster risk reduction, climate change adaptation, human rights and sustainable development among various communities of Assam. Tirtha is closely working with several networks and coalitions at local, national and international level in the field of humanitarian aid and disaster management, climate change, environment and development justice. 

Hon. Jone Usamate currently serves as Minister for Infrastructure, Meteorological Services, Lands and Mineral resources under the Fiji First Government. He has served as a Government Minister since February 2012 when he was initially appointed as Minister for Labour and Industrial Relations. He taught for two years at Lomary Secondary school from 1987, before joining the Fiji National Training Council as a Training Officer in 1989. He became the Director General of the FNTC in 2000, Director General of the Training & Productivity Authority of Fiji from 2003 to 2010 and served the Fiji National University as Director TVET after the merger between FNLI and TPAF until February 2012. Academically, the Hon llsamate holds a Bachelors of Arts Degree in Administration and Economics (l!SP) and a '!asters in Management (SCll). lie is an Honorary Fellow of the Asian Productivity Organization, was awarded the Asian Productivity Organizations Regional Productivity Award in 2021and is an Accredited Mediator with the Singapore Mediation Centre. Hon. llsamate is married to Cagi and they have 5 daughters and 7 grandchildren.

Mr. Shixin Chen is the Vice-President of the Asian Development Bank (ADB). He joined ADB on 12 December 2018 and is responsible for operations in the South Asia Department and the Central and West Asia Department.

Mr. Chen previously headed the Department of International Economic and Financial Cooperation at the Ministry of Finance of the People’s Republic of China (PRC). Since 1998, Mr. Chen has held senior positions in the Ministry of Finance, overseeing areas of public finance and partnerships with multilateral development banks.

He was World Bank’s Executive Director for the PRC from 2013 to 2016 and has been a Board Director for the PRC in the New Development Bank and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank since 2016. From 2012 to 2014, he was a Board Director in the Credit Guarantee and Investment Facility.

Mr. Chen holds a doctorate in Economics from the Graduate School of the Research Institute for Fiscal Science, and a master’s degree in Public Policy Management of the Mason Program of the John F. Kennedy School of Government in Harvard University.

ADB is committed to achieving a prosperous, inclusive, resilient, and sustainable Asia and the Pacific, while sustaining its efforts to eradicate extreme poverty. Established in 1966, it is owned by 67 members—48 from the region. In 2017, ADB operations totaled $32.2 billion, including $11.9 billion in cofinancing.

Ms. Valerie Julliand of France has been working with the United Nations for the last 27 years. Prior to Indonesia, she served as Resident Coordinator in Nepal (2016-2020), in Guatemala (2013-2016) and in the Dominican Republic (2009-2013). She also worked for 14 years with the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs – OCHA (from 1995 to 2008) in different countries in Africa.

Before joining the UN System, she was Handicap International Programme Director for Serbia and Bosnia (1993-1994), and from 1984 to 1992 she worked in various positions in publishing companies in Paris, most notably as General Director of BIBA (a French women's magazine) and Publisher of various magazines in the "Groupe Express" in France and in Poland.

Ms. Julliand holds a Masters in Political Science from the Institut d'Etudes Politiques, France and a Masters in Management from the Institut de Gestion Sociale, France. She speaks French, English and Spanish.

Martin Chungong made history in 2014 by becoming the first African and non-European to be elected IPU Secretary General. For more than three decades he has dedicated his professional life to promoting democracy worldwide.

Mr. Chungong has over three decades of experience and knowledge of parliaments at national and international levels. He has dedicated his professional life to promoting and building democracy worldwide.

He is a leader in his field through his work on developing programmes to help parliaments become more transparent, accountable, representative and effective democratic institutions. He has also built an impressive portfolio in the promotion of dialogue and conflict resolution, issues that remain at the heart of the IPU’s work.

Since 2012, he has pushed to strengthen parliamentary engagement on sustainable development and accountability through his role as Parliamentary Representative on the Steering Committee of the Global Partnership for Effective Development Cooperation.

As part of his commitment to gender equality, Mr. Chungong is an International Gender Champion, a network of decision makers, male and female, who have committed to breaking down gender barriers. In 2020, he was elected Chair of the Global Board of the International Gender Champions.

He is also leading IPU’s work to dramatically reduce maternal and child mortality rates through effective legislation and its implementation, as well as ensuring governments’ accountability to international commitments in this area. He sits on the Board of the Partnership for Maternal Newborn and Child Health. He was also appointed by the UN Secretary-General as one of the global leaders committed to fighting malnutrition through the Scaling Up Nutrition (SUN) Movement.

Mr. Chungong has received several distinctions, including Chevalier de l’Ordre de la Pléiade by the International Organisation of La Francophonie; the Friendship Order by the Viet Nam National Assembly; Officer of the National Order of 27 June 1977 by the President of Djibouti and Council of the Federation: 25 years by the Parliament of the Russian Federation.

A linguist by training, Martin Chungong speaks English, French and Spanish.