Trygve Lie-symposiets ekspertpanel

John G. Ruggie

John G. Ruggie is the Special Representative of the UN Secretary General for Business and Human Rights (2005 t.d). He is also the Berthold Beitz professor in human rights and international affairs at the Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, as well as Affiliated Professor in International Legal Studies at Harvard Law School.

He was United Nations Assistant Secretary-General and Chief Advisor for strategic planning to UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan (1997 to 2001), where he helped design and create the UN Global Compact (now over 7000 companies in more than 130 countries) and the UN Millennium Development Goals, which have brought renewed energy and focus to the fight against global poverty.

Prior to joining the UN, he was Dean of Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs and taught at the University of California's (UC) Berkeley and San Diego and directed the UC system-wide Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation. Professor Ruggie is an elected fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He has received the Guggenheim Fellowship, the International Studies Association's Distinguished Scholar Award and the American Political Science Association's Hubert H. Humphrey Award for outstanding public service by a political scientist. Ruggie has a BA in politics and history from McMaster University in Canada; a PhD in political science from the University of California, Berkeley; and a Doctor of Laws (honoris causa) from McMaster University, Canada. Ruggie was named as one of the 25 most influential international relations scholars in the US and Canada and i.a. named by Ethical Corporation magazine as one of the top 10 “Ethical Leaders” for 2008.

Mary Robinson

Mary Robinson, the first woman President of Ireland (1990-1997) and former United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (1997-2002), has spent most of her life as a human rights advocate. 
 
Mary Robinson is a member of the Elders, co-founder and former Chair of the Council of Women World Leaders and Vice President of the Club of Madrid. She is chair of the GAVI Alliance Board. She chairs the Fund for Global Human Rights, is Honorary President of Oxfam International and President of the International Commission of Jurists

Mary Robinson is currently the President of Realizing Rights: The Ethical Globalization Initiative. She is Chair of the International Advisory Board of the Institute for Human Rights and Business (IHRB) which is dedicated to being a global centre of expertise on the relationship between business and internationally proclaimed human rights standards.
The Institute works to raise corporate standards and strengthen public policy to ensure that the activities of companies do not contribute to human rights abuses, and in fact lead to positive outcomes.

Educated as a lawyer, Robinson rose to prominence as an academic (professor in public and criminal law at Trinity Collage in Dublin at the age of 25), barrister, campaigner and a member of the Irish Senate (1969–1989).

Ronnie Goldberg

Executive Vice President Ronnie Goldberg is overseeing our wide-ranging activities on international trade, investment, economic and regulatory matters, and supervising a staff of policy professionals whose expertise covers a host of issues affecting American companies engaged in business abroad and coordinates USCIB policies in relation to international affiliates and serves as the U.S. employer representative on the International Labor Organization’s Governing Body.

Prior to joining USCIB in 1987, she served as vice president for international affairs at the New York Chamber of Commerce and Industry, vice president in the trade and export finance division of Chase Manhattan Bank and was a project director at the Congressional Office of Technology Assessment (1978-82), specializing in East-West trade, technology transfer and Soviet energy development .

She holds a bachelor’s degree in political science from Bryn Mawr College with both Woodrow Wilson and Ford Fellowships, a master’s degree in the history of political thought from the London School of Economics and a Ph.D. in political science from the University of Chicago. She is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and an adjunct assistant professor at New York University.

Ministers

Minister of Foreign Affairs Jonas Gahr Støre, Norway 

Jonas Gahr Støre is Minister of Foreign Affairs of Norway. He has a degree in political science from the Institut d’Etudes Politiques de Paris, and has held a teaching position at Harvard Law School. His first introduction into public life was as Special Advisor to the Prime Minister, followed by a three year tenure as Director-General of the Prime Minister’s International Department. In 1998, Mr. Støre was appointed Ambassador of Norway’s Permanent Mission at the United Nations in Geneva, but served only briefly as he was asked by former Prime Minister of Norway and then Secretary-General of the World Health Organization, Gro Harlem Brundtland, to become her Chief of Staff. In 2005, Mr. Støre became Minister of Foreign Affairs in Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg’s government, following three years as Secretary-General of the Norwegian Red Cross. Mr. Støre belongs to the Norwegian Labour Party.

 

Minister of Foreign Affairs Maite Nkoana-Mashabane, South Africa 

Minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane was born on the 30th of September 1963 in Makgobaskloof and grew up at Ga-Makanye Village in the Limpopo Province. She was married to the late Mr. Norman Mashabane.

During the 1980s, she was an active member of the United Democratic Front (UDF) and served in the various structures of the Mass Democratic Movement (MDM) and the ANC underground structures.

After the unbanning of the ANC in 1990, she served the party in various structures including the ANC Women's League and actively participated in the re-launch of the ANC Women's League in the country. From 2009 to date she has been appointed to the Board of LOC as a representative of the South African Government.

 

Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Alexander Vladimirovich Yakovenko, Russia 

Alexander Vladimirovich Yakovenko was appointed Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation in 2005 covering a broad portfolio multilateral diplomacy, including himan rights. Upon graduating from the Moscow State Institute of International Relations in 1976, Mr Yakovenko began his diplomatic career in the Russian Foreign Service and has held various positions at the Department of International Organizations, the Permanent Mission of the USSR to the United Nations in New York, the Foreign Policy Planning Department, the Department of International Scientific and Technical Cooperation, the Department of Security and Disarmament, the Permanent Mission of the Russian Federation to International Organizations in Vienna, and the Information and Press Department. Previous to becoming deputy foreign minister Mr Yakovenko was Spokesman of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs from 2000 until 2005.

A Doctor of Law, Mr Yakovenko is the author of several books and a manual on international law, as well as more than 100 publications on international relations and Russian foreign policy, science, education and cultural issues. 

 

Maria Otero, Under Secretary, Democracy and Global Affairs, USA

Maria Otero was sworn in as Under Secretary of State for Democracy and Global Affairs on August 10, 2009. She oversees and coordinates U.S. foreign relations on a variety of global issues, including democracy, human rights, and labor; environment, oceans, health and science; population, refugees, and migration; and monitoring and combating trafficking in persons. She also serves as the Special Coordinator for Tibetan issues.

Ms. Otero was formerly the president and CEO of ACCION International, a pioneer and leader in microfinance working in 25 countries in around the globe. Under Ms. Otero's tenure as CEO, ACCION’s network of microfinance institutions expanded its reach from serving 460,000 people to over 3.7 million, through a combined portfolio that grew from $274 million to nearly $3.6 billion. She is a leading voice on sustainable microfinance, publishing extensively on the subject and speaking throughout the world on microfinance, women's issues and poverty alleviation.

Prior to ACCION, Ms. Otero was the Economist for Latin America for the Women in Development office of USAID. She also served for five years at the Centre for Development and Population Activities (CEDPA).

In June 2006, Ms. Otero was appointed by UN Secretary General Kofi Annan to the UN Advisors Group on Inclusive Financial Sectors. She sits on the board of the U.S. Institute of Peace, a position to which she was originally appointed by President Clinton and now holds as the State Department representative. Ms. Otero has chaired the board of Bread for the World, and also served on the boards of the Calvert Foundation, Public Welfare Foundation, the Inter-American Foundation and BRAC Holding of Bangladesh. Born in La Paz, Bolivia, Ms. Otero is currently the highest ranking Hispanic official at the State Department, and the first Latina Under Secretary in its history.

Ms. Otero is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. She was appointed by Newsweek as one of the United States' 20 most influential women (2005) and Hispanic Business Magazine's 'Elite Women of 2007'. She has received Notre Dame University honored her with the Distinguished Service in Latin America Award, and the Ellis Island Medal of Honor.

Ms. Otero holds an M.A. in literature from the University of Maryland, an M.A. in international relations from Johns Hopkins' Nitze School for Advanced International Studies (SAIS), in Washington, D.C, and an honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from Dartmouth College. From 1997 to 2009, she also served as an adjunct professor at SAIS.

 

Secretary of Foreign Affairs Alberto Pedro D´Alotto, Argentina

Alberto Pedro D´Alotto  is the Secretary of Foreign Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, International Trade and Worship. He Graduated from the Argentine Foreign Service Institute and became a lawyer at Universidad Complutense, Madrid, Spain with a Master in Political Sciences from La Sorbonne, Paris. He served in the Permanent Mission of Argentina to the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland (1986-1991), Embassy of Argentina in the United States of America (1994-1996), Embassy of  Argentina in Uruguay and the Permanent Mission of Argentina to the United Nations in New York (2001-2006) as Deputy Permanent Representative.Chief of Cabinet of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, International Trade and Worship (2006-2010).

In the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, he was head of the Human Rights Division (2000-01), and worked in areas such as Administration, International Cooperation and Foreign Policy.He has also been regular professor of International Law, Human Rights and International Organization in the University of Buenos Aires and Torcuato Di Tella University.