Panel on Civil Society
Biographies
Chair
Mr. Fernando Henrique Cardoso, Brazil
Born in Rio de Janeiro, Fernando Henrique Cardoso is a distinguished Brazilian sociologist and
politician, and was President of Brazil from 1995 to 2002. As an opponent of Brazil's military
dictators, he lived in exile from 1964 to 1968. Upon his return home he was arrested, banned from
teaching, and had his political and civil rights suspended. Mr. Cardoso was elected to the Brazilian
Senate from the state of Sao Paulo in 1986 and two years later helped to found the centrist Social
Democratic party. He served as foreign minister in 1992–1993. An inflation-fighting supporter of
free-market reforms, he became economy minister in 1993 and was credited with turning the troubled
Brazilian economy around. He was elected President in 1994, moving to reduce government involvement
in the economy and to attract foreign investment to Brazil. Mr. Cardoso served two terms as Brazil's
President, stepping down after the 2002 presidential elections. In December 2002, the UN Development
Programme bestowed on him its Mahbub ul Haq Award for Outstanding Contribution to Human Development.
In his book “Dependency and Development”, written in the 1970s, Mr. Cardoso was an early proponent
of partnerships between government, civil society and private sector.
Panel Members (In alphabetical order by last name)
H.E. Ambassador Bagher Asadi, Iran
H.E. Ambassador Bagher Asadi has represented his country in a number of key positions at the United
Nations, including Chairmanship of the Group of 77 in New York for the year 2001. He obtained his
B.A. from the University of Tehran, Iran, and later received an M.A. from the University of Colorado,
U.S., in Economics, with a concentration in economic development. He joined the Foreign Ministry
in 1982 and was assigned to the Department of International Affairs. The Ambassador served as Charge
d'Affaires at the Iranian Mission to the United Nations, Geneva, during 1988-1990, and also served
as Advisor to the Foreign Minister between 1992 and 1996. With the United Nations in New York, he was
Co-Chairman of the Intergovernmental Forum on Forests (IFF) for the period 1997-2000.
Prof. Manuel Castells, Spain
Born in Spain in 1942, Manuel Castells is currently Research Professor of Information Society at the
Open University of Catalonia (Barcelona); Wallis Annenberg Chair Professor of Communication Technology
and Society at the University of Southern California (Los Angeles); Emeritus Professor of City and
Regional Planning, and of Sociology, at the University of California (Berkeley); and a regular
Visiting Professor at the Massachussets Institute of Technology. He has served as adviser to several
governments, and has been a member of the European Commission High Level Group of Experts on the
Information Society. He is currently a member of the international advisory council to the President
of South Africa on Information and Communication Technology and Development. He has also been an
adviser and consultant with several United Nations agencies: UNDP, Unesco, ILO, Habitat, and Ecosoc.
He has been a member of the UN Secretary General´s advisory council on ICT and Global Development,
and is currently a member of the advisory council on the UN Task Force on ICT and Global Development.
Dr. Castells has been visiting professor at 15 universities in Latin America, Asia, North America,
and Europe, and has lectured in over 300 academic institutions in 43 countries. He has published 21
books, including the trilogy "The Information Age: Economy, Society, and Culture", published by
Blackwell in 1996-2000 and translated into 20 languages. He studied law and economics at the
Universities of Barcelona and Paris, and received his doctorates in sociology and in the human
sciences from the University of Paris "Rene Descartes-Sorbonne". He has received honorary doctorates
from numerous universities, as well as distinctions from several governments for his contribution
to research in the social sciences. He has also received major academic awards, including the
C.Wright Mills Award, the Robert and Helen Lynd Award, and the National Medal of Science of
Catalonia.
Ms. Birgitta Dahl, Sweden
Born in Sweden in 1937, Ms. Birgitta Dahl served the Swedish Parliament as a member for thirty-three
years (1969-2002), and was its Speaker from 1994 to 2002. During her parliamentary service, Ms. Dahl
was active in numerous committees working on a range of issues such as education, social insurance,
physical planning and local governments, energy and energy saving and on social aspects of housing.
She has held government positions as Minister of Energy (1982-1986), Minister of Environment and
Energy (1986-1990) and Minister of Environment (1990-1991). Among her international engagements, she
has served the UN Secretary General's High Level Advisory Board on Sustainable Development as its
Vice-chair from 1993-1996 and as its Chair from 1996-1998. She has been a senior advisor to the GEF
since 1997. Ms. Dahl has a degree in history and political sciences from the University of Uppsala,
with a specialization in African and South African affairs. She has published numerous articles and
contributed to books on democracy and human rights, peace and international cooperation, equality
between men and women, rights of children, education and science, as well as environment and
sustainable development.
Ms. Peggy Dulany, United States
Ms. Peggy Dulany is Founder and Chair of The Synergos Institute. Her career has included heading
a Boston-area public high school program for dropouts, for six years; consulting with the United
Nations and the Ford Foundation on health care and family planning; and consulting with the National
Endowment for the Arts on nonprofit management and planning. She was Senior Vice President of the New
York City Partnership for five years, where she headed the Youth Employment and Education programs.
Ms. Dulany is an honour graduate of Radcliffe College and holds a Doctorate in Education from Harvard
University. She is also Chair of Peradventures, a business development company for Latin America
and Southern Africa.
Mr. André Erdös, Hungary
H.E. Ambassador André Erdös is currently Ambassador of Hungary to France and was his
country’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations from 1997 until early 2002, and also from
1990 to 1994. He has served in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Hungary since 1965,
including as Deputy State Secretary for Foreign Affairs in 1994, addressing matters relating to the
United Nations, NATO and disarmament. Ambassador Erdös also served as Chairman of the United
Nations Disarmament Commission in 1994, and as a member of the Advisory Board on Disarmament
Matters and also as its Chairman in 1998. He was Vice-President of the Review and Extension
Conference of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty in 1995. Ambassador Erdös was Special
Assistant to Imre Hollai of Hungary, the President of the 37th Session of the General Assembly.
Mr. Juan Mayr, Colombia
Mr. Juan Mayr is a crusading environmentalist and a self -taught photographer. Between 1993 and 1996,
Mayr was elected vice-president of the World Conservation Union (IUCN). In August 1998, Colombian
President Andres Pastrana Arango appointed him Minister of the Environment. In addition to his
national activities, in February 1999 he was elected President of the Extraordinary Session of the
Convention on Biological Diversity until January 2000. In recognition for his work, Mayr won the
Dunning Award for the Conservation of Tropical Forests in Latin America in 1990. In 1998, Prince
Bernardo of Holland gave him "The Golden Ark Prize", and in 1999, the King of Spain honored him with
the "Orden al Mérito Civil en el Grado de Caballero", a degree of Knighthood.
Ms. Malini Mehra, India
Ms. Malini Mehra is the founder and director of the Centre for Social Markets, an independent
non-profit organization, with offices in India and the United Kingdom, dedicated to making markets
work for the ‘triple bottom line’- people, planet and profit. Her professional background includes
work with Oxfam, Friends of the Earth, the United Nations and other multilateral agencies and
philanthropies. Ms. Malini is one of the authors of the UNDP’s Human Development Report 2002, and
served as an advisor to Human Development Report 2000,on human rights. She is a commissioner of the
World Commission on Globalization and a member of the UN Expert Group on Corporate Social
Responsibility.
Mr. Kumi Naidoo, South Africa
Mr. Kumi Naidoo is Secretary General and CEO of Civicus World Alliance for Citizen Participation,
an international alliance of more than 500 organizations and individuals from 100 countries dedicated
to strengthening citizen action and civil society throughout the world. Mr. Naidoo joined Civicus in
September 1998. Previously he was the founding Executive Director of the South African National NGO
Coalition, the umbrella agency for the NGO community in South Africa. Mr. Naidoo has a Doctorate of
Philosophy from Oxford University.
Ms. Mary Racelis, Philippines
Ms. Mary Racelis is deeply involved in teaching and research activities focusing on urbanization,
urban poverty, sociology and development issues. She has served in a managerial capacity in several
international development agencies, including the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the Asian
Development Bank, the World Bank, the Rockefeller Foundation and the Ford Foundation. She was
formerly Regional Director for the UNICEF office for the East and South Africa Region. Ms. Racelis
has published extensively on issues pertaining to Filipino cultura; and social development,
urbanization, poverty, housing policy, informal settlers and people's participation, values, social
structure, social change and social planning.
Mr. Prakash Ratilal, Mozambique
Mr. Prakash Ratilal was the Governor of the Bank of Mozambique from 1981-1986. He was later appointed
the Mozambican Government Emergency Coordinator, for the department that coordinates donor and United
Nations assistance linked to emergency response in Mozambique. He has a strong background in
development policy and finance. Mr. Ratilal currently works in Maputo as Managing Director of ACE
Consoltores -- an independent consulting firm that provides technical advice to bilateral donors,
the World Bank, and the United Nations in the strategic planning and evaluation of their development
programmes. Mr. Ratilal has published extensively on bilateral development programmes and poverty
reduction.
Ms. Aminata Traoré, Mali
Ms. Aminata Traoré, former Minister of Culture and Tourism of Mali, is an author, community
leader and manager of cultural events and enterprises, with a doctorate in social psychology. As an
international consultant, her work has focused on social development and the social cost of
globalization, women’s issues, environment and the role of culture as the basis for human
reconstruction when access to essential goods is problematic. From 1988 to 1992, Dr. Traore was the
Regional director for the PROWEVESS Programme (Promotion of the Role of Women in Water, Environmental
and Sanitation Services), under the auspices of the UN Development Programme. Ms. Traore is
a member of the World Commission on the Social Dimensions of Globalization.