Kgalema Motlanthe

Mr Kgalema Petrus Motlanthe was born to a working class family on 19 July 1949 in Alexandra Township, Johannesburg. He was elected by Parliament on 25 September 2008 as President of the Republic of South Africa. He served until 9 May 2009. After his retirement as President, Mr Motlanthe was

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Olusegun Obasanjo

Olusegun Obasanjo served as President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria from 1999 until 2007. Upon leaving office, he oversaw the first civilian handover of power in Nigeria from one democratically-elected leader to another. President Obasanjo’s administration tackled corruption as a major priority, establishing dedicated bodies and strengthening existing ones.

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George Papandreou

George Papandreou holds an M.Sc. in Sociology and Development from LSE, and is a fellow at Harvard University’s Center for International Affairs. An Member of Parliament since 1981, he served in several government posts before being appointed Foreign Minister from 1999-2004. He has received several honors for his commitment to

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Michèle Pierre-Louis

Michèle Pierre-Louis

Michèle Duvivier Pierre-Louis, is President and founder in 1995 of the Fondation Connaissance et Liberté (FOKAL), member of the Open Society Foundation Network. She is an economist who studied in France and in the US. Upon her return in 1976 in Haiti, Michèle Duvivier Pierre-Louis has served in the private

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José Ramos-Horta

1975 – 1999: The Occupation Before he was renowned as a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, Dr. José Ramos-Horta was known internationally as a fiery advocate for the people of Timor-Leste (then known as East Timor) and at the same time, a highly skilled diplomat, negotiator, and peace maker. In exile

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Jorge Sampaio (1939-2021)

Jorge Sampaio was born in Lisbon on September 18th 1939. He was married to Maria José Ritta and had two children. He studied music from a very early age and due to his father’s career – a doctor who specialised in public health – he spent long periods of his

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Juan Manuel Santos

Juan Manuel Santos was born in Bogota on 10 August 1951. He was a cadet at the Naval Academy in Cartagena and studied Economics and Business Administration at the University of Kansas. He has also completed post-graduate studies at London School of Economics and Harvard University. He was Chief of the

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George Shultz (1920-2021)

A native of New York, Mr. Shultz graduated from Princeton University in 1942. After serving in the Marine Corps, he earned a PhD at MIT. Mr. Shultz taught at MIT and the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business, where he became dean in 1962. He was appointed Secretary of

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Michel Hamala Sidibé

Michel Sidibé

A long-standing champion of a people-centered approach to health and development and a strong advocate for social justice, Dr. Michel Hamala Sidibé was the second Executive Director of UNAIDS, serving from January 2009 until May 2019. He held the rank of Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations. His passion for advancing

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Javier Solana

Javier Solana is the former secretary general of NATO, European Union high representative for common foreign and security policy and secretary-general of the Council of the European Union. Solana began his long career in public service when he was elected to the Spanish Parliament in 1982. He held a number

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