Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein

Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein is President and CEO of the International Peace Institute and Perry World House Professor of the Practice of Law and Human Rights at the University of Pennsylvania. He is also a Senior Advisor to the Chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. In 2019, he was elected to The Elders, an independent group of global leaders working for peace, justice, human rights and a sustainable planet, founded by Nelson Mandela. From 2014–18, Al Hussein was the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. In January 2014, he was President of the UN Security Council. He has served twice as Jordan’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations (2000–2007 and 2010–14) and has been Jordan’s Ambassador to the United States (2007–10). From 2002–2005, Al Hussein was the first President of the Assembly of States Parties of the International Criminal Court. Earlier in his career (1994–96), he served as a UN civilian peacekeeper with the UN Protection Force. He holds degrees from Johns Hopkins University and the University of Cambridge.