September 1, 2021 | 16:00 – 17:00 (UAE time)
“Partnership between the Multilateral System and GCC Humanitarian Actors”
Mr. Khaled Khalifa | Senior Advisor and Representative to the Gulf Cooperation Council Countries, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)
Mr. Khaled Khalifa has served as the Representative of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to the States of the Gulf Cooperation Council since 2016 and serves as a senior advisor to the High Commissioner for Refugees on Islamic philanthropy. He is a professional international expert with 20 years of experience in relief and development and has led humanitarian operations in various settings of natural disasters, complex emergencies and armed conflicts. Khaled has held several senior managerial positions with major international organizations including United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, Danish International Development Agency, United States Agency for International Development, and Islamic Relief Worldwide, in a number of countries including Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Indonesia, Malaysia, Libya, Pakistan, United Arab Emirates, Switzerland, and KSA.
September 8, 2021 | 16:00 – 17:00 (UAE time)
“The Importance of a Cross Sector Partnerships in the Humanitarian Space”
Mr. Giuseppe Saba | Chief Executive Officer of the International Humanitarian City
Mr. Giuseppe Saba has been the CEO of Dubai’s International Humanitarian City since March 2017. With over 34 years of extensive experience in the humanitarian field with the United Nations and international organizations, he is one of the most leading logistics and support services expert.
He is also the founder of the United Nations Humanitarian Response Depot Network (UNHRD). In 2000, he set up, with the support of the UN World Food Programme (WFP), the first UNHRD in Brindisi, south-east of Italy. This served as a consortium of UN Agencies and international humanitarian organizations, which include governmental and non-governmental entities.
September 22, 2021 | 16:00 – 17:00 (UAE time)
“Nature Based Solutions as a Driver for Sustainable Development, Peace and Reconciliation”
Mr. Amin Awad | Senior Fellow, Advanced Leadership Initiative, Harvard University, Cambridge, United States of America
Mr. Amin Awad is a 2020 Fellow at the Advance Leadership Initiative at Harvard University where he is engaged in issues related to fragile states and states in transition. Mr. Awad served in a dual capacity as the United Nation’s regional refugee coordinator for the Syria and Iraq Situations and as Director of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) Bureau at the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), in which capacities he was responsible for delivering humanitarian aid to 20 million displaced people in the region. Over his 30 years with the U.N. he has been engaged in humanitarian action and emergency response supporting forcibly displaced persons in some of the most challenging field operations in the Middle East, Asia, Africa, the former Soviet Union, and the former Yugoslavia.
September 29, 2021 | 16:00 – 17:00 (UAE time)
“Technological Innovation and Applied Medical Research: Improving the Effectiveness of Humanitarian Medicine in the Field”
Mr. Mario Stephan | Executive Director, Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) UAE Regional Office
Mr. Mario Stephan is the current Executive Director for Doctors Without Borders / Médecins Sans Frontières’ UAE office. Having worked in the humanitarian sector for over 14 years, Mario’s experience encompasses a wide variety of roles, from implementation and coordination, support and management, to executive positions. In the course of his career, Mario has lived and worked in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Afghanistan, Somalia, and Egypt. At a regional level, Mario has held positions covering eastern and southern Africa, and both the MENA and GCC regions. He speaks Arabic, English, French and Spanish, and holds a Master’s degree in Manage-ment and Business Administration. In 2015, Mario founded Arabian Perspectives, a consultancy firm providing expertise and knowledge on the Arab World to the relief and development sectors.