Mr Abel Rogério Chaves de Campos is Deputy Registrar of the European Court of Human Rights since 2020. Previously, he was Legal Officer at the Secretariat of the former European Commission of Human Rights (1991-1998) and Legal Officer (1998-2002), Head of Division (2002-2012), Deputy Section Registrar (2014-2016) and Section Registrar (since 2016) at the European Court of Human Rights. Before that, he was seconded to the Secretariat of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe (2012-2014).

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Mr Adelino Vieira da Cunha da Silva is the Executive Director of the North-South Centre of the Council of Europe since November 2022. Prior to his current position, Mr. Adelino Silva held various diplomatic posts, including as Chargé d’Affaires e.p. at the Embassy of Portugal in Astana (2015 – 2022); Deputy Head of Mission at the Embassies in Luxembourg (1998-2002), Addis-Ababa (2002-2004) and Tunis (2012-2015), and Counsellor at the Portuguese Mission to the OSCE in Vienna (2008-2012). His postings to Lisbon included two stints as Head of Unit at the Departments of Defence and Security (2005-2008), and European Political Affairs (2022).

Ms Alexandra Kodjabachi is a founder, consultant and speaker. She merges her academic backgrounds in political science (from Beirut and Aix-en-Provence) and educational neuroscience (from London) to design transformative learning experiences, with a particular focus on change-making, social innovation and the SDGs. This has led to more than 140 collaborations spanning 45+ countries and impacting thousands globally. Her career began with anti-corruption and good governance in the project development and management space, then expanded, through learning experience design, to cover peace, climate, quality education and human development. Alexandra has been recognized as a G20 Young Global Changer twice (2017 and 2021), as well as a MENA Leadership Academy fellow (2016-2017), UNLEASH Global Talent (2018), and UNESCO APCEIU Youth Leader (2019). 

Mr Amjad Bany Issa is a Climate Justice Advocate and EU Jeel Connector from Jordan. He engages youth in policy-making on climate change and monitors the United Nations climate negotiations with a justice perspective. He coordinates regional projects to bridge the gap between youth and policy-makers and promotes a greener economy, leveraging youth's energy and creativity.

Ms Belinda Gottardi is the Mayor of Castel Maggiore (Italy), graduated at Bologna’s law University and registered as a lawyer since 2002. She entered the municipal council of Castel Maggiore at a very young age, elected Mayor in 2014; Deputy Head of the Italian delegation at the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe, where she was co-rapporteur for the report “A fundamental right to the environment: a matter for local and regional authorities”. Active member in Italian and European associations of municipalities, she is member of the Italian Delegation in the Policy Committee of the CEMR (Council of European Municipalities and Regions), where she is Spokesperson for climate issues and member of the board of the Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy.

Betina Pasteknik is a versatile professional and skilled coalition builder with a background in human rights and international development who passionately advocates for anti-corruption initiatives and human rights. She fosters collaboration among civil society organisations, activists, and academics, coordinating the UNCAC Coalition Working Groups addressing critical issues such as the environment, gender, and grand corruption, among others.

 Mr Bjørn Berge serves as the Council of Europe’s Deputy Secretary General since 1 March 2021. As the Deputy Secretary General he is involved in a number of key areas of the work of the Organisation, including advising and overseeing the implementation of the Secretary General’s reform agenda, in line with the decisions and priorities of the Committee of Ministers. His priorities include shaping the Programme and Budget, while ensuring that the Organisation’s activities have maximum impact in advancing democracy, human rights and the rule of law. He previously held the role of Director General and Secretary to the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, Director of the Private Office of the Secretary General and the Deputy Secretary General.

As a former Norwegian diplomat, he served as International Adviser to the Prime Minister and as Deputy Director of the Foreign Minister’s Cabinet responsible for all matters related to Parliament. He also served as speechwriter to three Norwegian Foreign Ministers.

Mr Berge has published several books on a range of issues relating to speech writing and speeches, as well as articles on the Council of Europe’s mandate and work.

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Ms Denyse Degiorgio is passionate about international security, anti-corruption and foreign affairs. She has conducted research and written about institutionalised corruption in Southern Europe, as well as grand levels of corruption. Prior to joining the UNCAC Coalition, she worked with an NGO focusing on development cooperation, education and refugee rights; as well as on counter-terrorism within the Global Issues Directorate of the Maltese Ministry for Foreign Affairs during Malta's Presidency of the Council of the EU.

Ms Fatna Ikrame EL FANNE is an Environment Engineer with a Master's degree from Mohammed V University, Morocco, and is pursuing another Master's in Environmental Engineering at Suzhou University of Science and Technology, China. She is a passionate climate activist and co-founder of "Youth for Climate Morocco," an NGO focusing on youth empowerment and environmental awareness. Recognised for her leadership, she advocates for urgent climate action and has spoken at conferences globally. Ikrame bridges academia, industry and policy-making to drive impactful change.

Dr Francisco André is Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs and Cooperation. He graduated in Law from the University of Lisbon School of Law (2000), with a major in Legal and Economic Affairs, and began his career as a lawyer in 2003. He was Chief of Cabinet for the Secretary of State for the Presidency of the Council of Ministers in the 17th Government since the 1976 democratic constitution, from 2005 to 2008, and Advisor at the Portuguese Permanent Representation (REPER) in the European Union from 2009 to 2013. He was Chief of Cabinet for the Prime Minister in the 11th and 12th Governments under the 1976 democratic constitution, from October 2018 until August 2020. He was Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs and Cooperation in Prime Minister António Costa’s second Government, from 2020 to 2022. He was also lead technical advisor at Portugal’s Permanent Representation at the OECD, from September to December 2020.

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Ms Edite Estrela has a degree in Classical Philology and a Master's degree in Social Communication. She is Vice-President of the Assembly of the Republic and President of the Delegation of the Assembly of the Republic to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (APCE), where she serves as Vice-President. She is President of the Board of Founders of the Res Publica Foundation. She was a Member of the European Parliament for two terms and she was President of Sintra City Council and Vice-President of the Lisbon Metropolitan Area. She was President of the Antero de Quental Foundation and Vice-President of the Portuguese Writers Association. She has published work in the field of linguistics.

H. E. Ambassador Francesca Camilleri Vettiger was appointed as Permanent Representative of Malta to the Council of Europe as of 19 June 2023. In this role, she currently serves as the Chair of the Executive Committee of the North-South Centre of the Council of Europe. She served as the Deputy Permanent Representative and legal advisor at the Permanent Representation of Malta to the Council of Europe since April 2019. She worked as coordinator on International Human Rights Law matters within the Ministry for Foreign Affairs and Trade Promotion in Valletta. In 2016 she was posted to Geneva as Senior Policy Officer at the Permanent Representation of Malta to the United Nations and other International Organisations where she represented Malta at the World Trade Organisation in preparation for and during Malta’s Presidency of the Council of the European Union.

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Ms Janina Ochojska is a Member of the European Parliament, elected for the 9th legislative term. She is member of the Development Committee, Human Rights Committee and substitute in the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs. In 1989, together with other people, founded the first Polish EquiLibre foundation, which since 1994 has been operating under the name of the Polish Humanitarian Action, that provided help to 9,6 million people in 25 years. In December 1992, Janina Ochojska organised and personally took part in the first humanitarian aid convoy to Sarajevo which led to the involvement of the polish society in help not only for Sarajevo but also for Belgrade, Kosovo, Skopje and Tuzla.

Mr Javier Roura Blanco is an experienced professional dedicated to promoting human rights. He currently works as a Senior Coordinator at the European Union Human Rights Defenders mechanism, ProtectDefenders.eu, where he focuses on coordinating strategic actions, communication and advocacy initiatives and supervises monitoring, reporting and evaluation programs. In this role, Javier was a member of the organising committee for the II Human Rights Defenders World Summit 2018 in Paris. He has also served as a visiting professor and lecturer at Carlos III University in Madrid and at the Global Campus of Human Rights in Venice. In previous positions, Javier has been involved in human rights, post-conflict and youth programs for youth organisations in Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Serbia, as well as in Morocco with the UNDP.

Joana Guerra Tadeu is a climate justice activist dedicated to producing content for different media and facilitating awareness and education actions about human rights and ecology for schools, non-profits, companies and events. Joana presented the climate justice TV show Verdes Anos and the environmentalist radio show Ambientalista Imperfeita at the Portuguese public broadcaster (RTP). She has been dedicated to ecofeminist environmentalism since 2015, co-founded  #TodasMerecemos - a social impact project that fights menstrual poverty in Portugal - in 2021, and has been an ambassador for the World Wildlife Fund Portugal since 2022.

Ms Karen Ernst is the Head of the Independent Integrity Unit (IIU) of the Green Climate Fund, the world’s largest multilateral climate fund. She is a strategic leader, partnership builder, and trusted advisor with a passion for supporting the missions of international organisations. Before joining IIU, Karen served as the International Director of Integrity, Compliance & Legal at SOS Children's Villages International, where she was part of the extended executive leadership team. In this role, she successfully led the integrity and asset safeguarding functions and strengthened good governance within the SOS Children's Villages Federation. Prior to her tenure at SOS Children's Villages, she held various legal positions in the fields of anti-fraud, anti-corruption, anti-harassment, and international technical and scientific collaboration at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) and the European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT).

Ms Karuna Rana is an award-winning social entrepreneur and environmental activist from Mauritius. She co-founded SYAH in 2013, the only regional youth-led organization focused on advancing sustainable development across 7 African and Asian Small Island Developing States (SIDS). Her work led her to set up initiatives such as #Prep4COP, aimed at increasing the effective engagement of young people from the most climate-vulnerable countries within the UN climate change negotiations, and Tap Water Revolution, aimed at increasing access to safe tap water to reduce plastic pollution in Mauritius. Additionally, she has facilitated youth engagement and lobbied governments at key international environmental negotiations of the UNFCCC, UNEP and the African Union, amongst others. She is often invited to share her work in high-level forums such as the World Economic Forum Davos meeting and by key media platforms such as the BBC. She is also a member of the World Economic Forum's Business Agenda for Climate Change Adaptation community, a Global Shaper alumnus and the Editor of the 5th Global Environment Outlook for Youth publication by UNEP.

Mr Leonardo Paradiso is currently leading the Youth Empowerment component of the Global Resource for Anti-Corruption Education and Youth Empowerment (GRACE) initiative of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, advancing the Organisation’s meaningful inclusion of young people into global anti-corruption efforts based on education, research, digital innovation and social entrepreneurship. 
Prior to working with GRACE, Leonardo worked for the Education for Justice (E4J) Initiative of the Global Programme for the Implementation of the Doha Declaration, United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), with the Department of Management of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and with the Psychotropics Control Section of the International Narcotics Control board (INCB), both based in Vienna, Austria.
Before joining the Vienna based Organisations, Leonardo worked with the Council of Europe in Strasbourg, France.

Along his career as a businessman, Mr Nazim Ahmad held various positions at the Ismaili National Council for Portugal since 1979, including President from 1990 to 1997. He has been developing his activity within the diplomatic arena in Portugal and Mozambique, collaborating closely with the governments, diplomatic corps and civil society organisations. He was involved in the establishment of several high level agreements with both countries, including the 1998 Co-operation Agreement between AKDN and the Government of the Republic of Mozambique, the 2005 Protocol of Cooperation with the Portuguese Government, the 2009 Agreement on Faith Matters with the Portuguese Republic and the 2015 Seat Agreement with the Portuguese Republic. He was a member of the Commission for Religious Freedom (2004 to 2016), Board member of the Observatory of the Portuguese Language (2010 to 2013), member of the General Council of the Faculty of Human and Social Sciences of the NOVA University (2013 to 2017). On 10 June 2004, he was awarded the title of Comendador da Ordem do Mérito (Commander of the Order of Merit).

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Nelson Salagano is a co-founder and Executive Director of the Rural-Urban Social Empowerment Program (RUSEP), a hybrid institution based in Nairobi, Kenya, that uses community empowerment to help refugees achieve self-sufficiency, protect children and youth from assimilation into crime and armed violence and facilitate disarmament.

Anisa Bek Derna, mieux connue sous le nom de Nissa Bek, est une personnalité médiatique libyenne, militante pour le climat et défenseure de la paix. Elle est la fondatrice du projet Mulan, une organisation œuvrant à la diffusion et à la réalisation des Objectifs de développement durable du PNUD en Libye. Le travail de Nissa comprend la sensibilisation aux problématiques liées au changement climatique, la défense des jeunes et le travail de terrain en Libye. En 2021, Nissa est devenue la première Libyenne à remporter le prix Princess Diana, la plus haute distinction qu'un jeune puisse obtenir pour son action sociale ou ses efforts humanitaires. Cette même année, elle a été nommée parmi les 10 militants africains pour le climat qui changent la face de la planète par Greenpeace.

Ms Pilar Morales is Co-ordinator of the Neighbourhood Policy with the Southern Mediterranean, Head of the Council of Europe Office in Tunis and Senior Coordinator of the activities of the North-South Centre of the Council of Europe.

Pilar Morales holds a Master’s degree in Political Science and Sociology (Universidad Complutense, Madrid), a Master's degree in Advanced European Studies (College of Europe, Bruges), a Master's degree in International Relations (CSIC, Madrid) and an MBA (IADE, Madrid). She has held several positions within the Council of Europe since 1993, and since 2011 is in charge of programming with the Council of Europe's neighbourhood countries. Since July 2021 she is based in Tunis as the Coordinator of the Neighbourhood Policy with the Southern Mediterranean and Head of the Council of Europe Office.

Ms Salma Benaziz is a member of the Parliament of the Kingdom of Morocco, where she chairs the diplomatic section and is a Member of the Finance Committee. Simultaneously, she serves as a professor at the Faculty of Legal, Economic and Social Sciences in Ain Sebaâ at Hassan II University in Casablanca, holding a PhD in Economics. Her research focuses on entrepreneurship, entrepreneurial support and the management of support structures and business incubators. Her goal is to promote the creation of an entrepreneurial ecosystem conducive to the development of innovative start-ups in Morocco. Furthermore, Salma Benaziz has played a pivotal role in the establishment of GEM Morocco, actively contributing to the promotion of entrepreneurship in the country.

Mr Spyros Papadatos is a passionate young European, born in Greece and currently living in Brussels, Belgium. He has been shaped by international mobility and considers himself primarily an active European citizen. He was the president of AEGEE-Europe for 2018-2019; since 2020 he is a member of the Advisory Council on Youth (AC) of the Council of Europe and currently he is the AC Chairperson.

Mr Tobias Flessenkemper was appointed Head of the Youth Department of the Council of Europe as of 1 September 2023. He was Head of the Belgrade Office of Council of Europe since October 2018. His previous postings include the European External Action Service (EEAS) in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Council of the European Union in Brussels, Skopje and Sarajevo and the OSCE. 2012-13 he was visiting fellow at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP). In 2013 he became managing director of the Berlin-based agency elbarlament.org - cultures of democracy. From 1998-2001 he was Secretary General of the European Youth Forum. He holds a Magister Artium (M.A.) in Political Science from the University of Cologne and European Master in International Humanitarian Assistance (E.MA) from the Ruhr-University Bochum.