Lejla Hasandedic-Dapo
United Religions Initiative (URI) Europe Liaison Officer, board member of European Interfaith Youth Network (EIYN), Religions for Peace
Sima Samar is an advocate for the poor, an educator of the marginalised and defender of the human rights of all in Afghanistan. She has established and nurtured the Shuhada Organization that, in 2012, operated more than one hundred schools and 15 clinics and hospitals dedicated to providing education and healthcare, particularly focusing on women and girls. She served in the Interim Administration of Afghanistan and established the first-ever Ministry of Women’s Affairs.
Samar recently established the non-profit Gawharshad Institute of Higher Education (GSIHE). The Institute initially offers training in the fields of political science, political sociology, economic planning, as well as leadership and administration in education. It aims to provide greater opportunities for women, poor and marginalised students through tuition subsidies and scholarships.
Various aspects of Samar’s work have been recognised over the years by several international awards, including the 1994 Ramon Magsaysay Award for Community Leadership and the 2004 Jonathan Mann Award for Global Health and Human Rights. Additionally, she was conferred with a Doctor of Humane Letters (hon.) by Brown University in May 2005.
Between 2004-2019, she chaired the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission that holds human rights violators accountable, a commitment that put her own life at great risk. During 2019, she was appointed Special Envoy and State Minister for Human Rights and International Relations in Afghanistan.
United Religions Initiative (URI) Europe Liaison Officer, board member of European Interfaith Youth Network (EIYN), Religions for Peace
Member executive board, Religions for Peace Italy
Chairperson, RfP European Women of Faith Network
Community Engagement Senior Coordinator, Adyan Foundation
Deputy Coordinator, International Youth Committee
Junior Researcher, Hartford Seminary-Interreligious Relations
Member, International Youth Committee
Archbishop of Abuja, Archdiocese of Abuja
Honorary President, Religions for Peace
Youth Representative, Ghana Conference of Religions for Peace
Member, International Youth Committee
Founding Director and President, Human Dignity and Humiliation Studies, Germany
President, Divine Shakti Foundation
Secretary-General, Global Interfaith WASH Alliance
Professor of Islamic Studies and Education, George-August University Göttingen
Director General of the Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ISESCO)
Director for Cultural Relations Policy and Deputy Head of the Directorate-General for Culture and Communication at the Federal Foreign Office
Chief of Cabinet and Spokesperson to the High Representative for the United Nations Alliance of Civilization (UNAOC)
Director, Argao Center for Psychological Services
Coordinator, Religions for Peace International Youth Committee
President, Kina8at Together
Elder from the Anicinape (Algonquin) tradition
Metropolitan of France, Ecumenical Patriarchate Religions for Peace
Professor of Spiritual Care at the Graduate School of Applied Religious Studies
Chairmanship of the Foundation Peace Dialogue of the World Religions and Civil Society
Inter-Religious Council of Peru – Religions for Peace, Interfaith Rainforest Initiative
Bishop Emeritus President of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land
Honorary President, Religions for Peace
Professor of Religion, St. Olaf College
Co-President, Religions for Peace
UN Special Rapporteur on Cultural Rights
Homer G. Angelo & Ann Berryhill Endowed Chair & Martin Luther King Jr. Professor of Law at UC Davis
School of Law
International Director, Department of Interreligious Affairs in the American Jewish Committee
Co-President, Religions for Peace
Representative of Thailand to the ASEAN Women of Peace Registry; Human Rights and Peace Studies, Faculty, Mahidol University; Secretary-General, Religions for Peace Interreligious Council of Thailand; Member, RfP International Women’s Coordinating Committee
Journalist, Filmmaker, War Reporter, Human Rights Activist,
Founder, Hawar Help and German Dream
Lutheran Archbishop of Uppsala Primate of the Church of Sweden
Co-Presiden, Religions for Peace
Former Chairperson, Evangelical Church of Germany
Co-President, Religions for Peace
Nun of the Daughters of Mother Mary of Mercy; Co-Chair Nigerian & African Women of Faith Network
Executive Director Cardinal Onaiyekan Foundation for Peace (COFP)
Chair, Religions for Peace International Women’s Coordinating Committee
Assistant Secretary-General, Deputy Executive Director of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA)
Assistant Secretary-General, Assistant High Commissioner for Protection
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)
Minister of State for International Cultural Policy at the Foreign Office, Germany
President-Designate, Rissho Kosei-Kai, Co-Moderator, Religions for Peace, Buddhist, Japan