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2008 UNDEF Advisory Board Members

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The United Nations Democracy Fund is the Secretary-General’s Trust Fund. The Secretary-General obtains advice on the work of UNDEF from an Advisory Board composed of 19 members. The previous Advisory Board concluded its work at the end of 2007 and the Secretary-General has appointed his Advisory Board for 2008.

The 19 members of the Board comprise 13 Member States, four personal representatives of the Secretary-General and two representatives of non-governmental organizations.

The thirteen Member States that will serve on the Board in 2008 are the seven largest contributors to UNDEF, namely, Australia, France, Germany, India, Japan, Qatar and USA; and six countries to represent the balance of UN membership in accordance with equitable geographic representation, namely, Mali, Mozambique, Peru, Philippines, Romania and Vanuatu representing small island developing states.

The four personal representatives of the Secretary-General are Ms. Aye Aye Thant, president of the U Thant Institute; Professor Adebayo Olukoshi, Executive Secretary of the Council for the Development of Social Science in Africa; and continuing members Professor Michael Doyle of Columbia University; and Mr. Amir A. Dossal, Executive Director of Untied Nations Office of Partnerships.

The two representatives of non-governmental organizations are Mr. Ziad Abdel Samad, Executive Director of the Arab NGO Network for Development, which was established to promote the role of civil society organization in Arab countries; and Mr. Nicholas Howen, Secretary-General of the International Commission of Jurists, which was established to advance human rights and implement international law.

The main purpose of the Advisory Board is to provide policy guidance for the development of programme and funding guidelines, and to recommend funding proposals for approval by the Secretary-General. It is expected that the UNDEF Advisory Board will meet three or four times during 2008.

The Secretary-General also conveyed his deep appreciation for retiring UNDEF Advisory Board members who served in 2006 and 2007. Former Board members are Benin, Chile, Hungary, Indonesia, South Africa, Dr. Rima Khalaf Hunaidi of Jordan, Professor Guillermo O’Donnell of Oxford University, and Dr. Kumi Naidoo, Secretary-General of CIVICUS (South Africa).

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