Gianni Magazzeni is Former Assistant to various Directors-General and Heads of the UN Human Rights Program in Geneva since 1987, Mr Magazzeni was Special Assistant to the First UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, from 1994-1997. Most recently, he was Chief of the Universal Periodic Review Branch, Human Rights Council and Treaty Mechanisms Division (1 May 2017 to 30 April 2023); OiC of the Field Operation and Technical Cooperation Division (FOTCD) (2016-2017) and Chief of the Americas, Europe and Central Asia Branch (2010 to 30 April 2017) in OHCHR, Geneva. From 2006 to 2007, he was Chief of the Human Rights Component of the United Nations Assistant Mission in Iraq (UNAMI), based in Baghdad. Mr. Magazzeni joined the UN in NYHQ and was Special Assistant to the Under-Secretary-General for Disarmament Affairs as of 1985.Mr Magazzeni graduated from the Yale University, USA, (MA in International Relations). He had a Fellowship at the University of Bern, Switzerland, after his BA in Political Science at the University of Pisa and at the Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna, Italy.

Former UN Ambassador Amanda Ellis currently serves as Executive Director, Asia-Pacific for the Global Institute of Sustainability and Innovation and Senior Director, Global Partnerships and Networks for the Julie Ann Wrigley Global Futures Laboratory at Arizona State University. She is co-chair of the WE Empower UN SDG Challenge, launched by the UN Secretary General, the President of the World Bank and the Council of Women World Leaders in 2018 to promote inclusive entrepreneurship.

Previous roles include New Zealand’s Head of Mission and Ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva, inaugural Ambassador for Women and Girls and Prime Minister’s Special Envoy to Francophone Africa. Ms Ellis played a key role in New Zealand’s successful UN Security Council bid, subsequently serving as co-chair of the UNSC High Level Working Group on Humanitarian Access into Syria. From 2010-13 as Deputy Secretary International Development and the first woman to head the New Zealand Aid Programme, Ms Ellis was responsible for an annual budget of over $0.6 billion. Prior to this, Ms. Ellis was Lead Specialist in the Poverty Reduction and Economic Management Group at the World Bank Group in Washington D.C., where she managed the World Bank President’s Global Private Sector CEO Leaders Forum and led the Doing Business gender research project which created “Women, Business and the Law.” While at the World Bank, she worked with the Economist Intelligence Unit to create the Women’s Economic Opportunity Index. Ms. Ellis also founded the International Finance Corporation’s gender program, where she developed the first lines of credit for women entrepreneurs in Africa delivered through local banks. In the late 1990s she served in senior executive roles at Westpac Banking Corporation in Australia, including as Head of Women’s Markets and National Manager Women in Business, growing a new business rapidly to over half a billion dollars in annual revenues within just three years.

Ms. Ellis is the author of two best-selling Random House books, Women’s Business, Women’s Wealth and Woman 2 Woman, lead author of five research titles in the World Bank Directions in Development series on gender and growth in Africa, the Middle East, East Asia and the Pacific and co-author of the 2020 Gender Equality and Governance Index. A founding member of the Global Banking Alliance for Women, Ms. Ellis is the recipient of the TIAW Lifetime Achievement Award for services to women’s economic empowerment, the East-West Center Distinguished Alumni Award, the Columba College Distinguished Alumna Award and NZ Business Hall of Fame.

Ms. Ellis serves on the advisory boards of the Global Governance Forum, UN Target Gender Equality, Blue Planet Alliance, Hawaii Green Growth, Bishop Museum, Institute for Climate and Peace, the East-West Center Board Of Governors and the Council on Foreign Relations Advisory Committee on economic inclusion. She is an adjunct Senior Fellow at the East-West Center in Hawaii and a Fellow of the World Academy of Art and Science, a member of NZ Global Women and an honorary member of BPW International and Rotary International.

Dr. Paul R. Williams holds the Rebecca I. Grazier Professorship in Law and International Relations at American University where he teaches in the School of International Service and at the Washington College of Law. Dr. Williams is also the co-founder of the Public International Law & Policy Group (PILPG), a pro bono law firm providing legal assistance to states and governments involved in peace negotiations, post-conflict constitution drafting, and the prosecution of war criminals. As a world renowned peace negotiation lawyer, Dr. Williams has assisted over two dozen parties in major international peace negotiations and has advised numerous parties on the drafting and implementation of post-conflict constitutions. Several of Dr. Williams' pro bono government clients throughout the world joined together to nominate him for the Nobel Peace Prize.

Dr. Williams has served as a Senior Associate with the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, as well as an Attorney-Adviser for European and Canadian affairs at the U.S. Department of State, Office of the Legal Adviser. He received his J.D. from Stanford Law School and his Ph.D. from the University of Cambridge. Dr. Williams is a sought-after international law and policy expert. He is frequently interviewed by major print and broadcast media and regularly contributes op-eds to major newspapers. Dr. Williams has authored six books on various topics concerning international law, and has published over three dozen scholarly articles on topics of international law and policy. He has testified before the U.S. Congress on a number of occasions relating to specific peace processes, transitional justice, and self-determination. Dr. Williams is a member of the Council of Foreign Relations, and has served as a Counsellor on the Executive Council of the American Society of International Law. In 2019, Paul was awarded the Cox International Law Center's Humanitarian Award for Advancing Global Justice. More information about Dr. Williams can be found at www.drpaulrwilliams.com.