H.E. Ms. Hend Abdalrahman Al-Muftah is the Permanent Representative of Qatar to the United Nations Office, the WTO, and other international organizations in Geneva. She was appointed in July 2022.

H.E. Ms. Al-Muftah has had a wide-ranging career since 2004, including different academic, research, and professional positions. From May 2015 to January 2021, she was Vice President for Administration and Finance and Associate Professor at the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies. She taught at Qatar University from 1990 to 2016, starting as a teaching assistant, and finishing as an associate professor of management (2010 to 2016). She was Executive Director of the Childhood Cultural Centre of the Qatar Foundation from April 2012 to September 2014. She also served as Director of Human Resources at Qatar University from 2004 to 2008.

In 2017, H.E. Ms. Al-Muftah was appointed as a member of the Shura Council of Qatar, one of four ladies joining the Council for the first time for a four-year term. She has been a member of, or consultant to various national and regional bodies and has many publications.

H.E. Ms. Al-Muftah has a Ph.D. in human capital formation-human resources management from Exeter University, United Kingdom (2004). She also has a master’s degree in management science from the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, United Kingdom (1999), and a bachelor’s degree in public administration from Qatar University, Qatar (1990).

Nan has over 25 years’ experience in strategic management roles both with the United Nations and the private sector across Asia, Africa, North America and Europe. She currently leads a global team in investment and sustainable finance research, policy, investment promotion and facilitation, enterprise development, and technical assistance to governments in over 160 countries. She chairs the Governing Board of the UN Sustainable Stock Exchanges Initiative, leads the World Investment Forum and the inter-governmental Working Group on International Standards of Accounting and Reporting.

Before joining UNCTAD, she served as the Global Director of Sustainable Investments and Innovation at UNOPS, where she led a team to promote infrastructure investments in many developing countries and co-invest with DFIs and private investors. She served as UNOPS focal point in the UN Inter-agency Task Force on Financing for Development.

Previously, she served as the Head of UNDP SDG Innovative Finance and as Head of South-South Cooperation and Investment at UNDP's Asia Pacific Center in Bangkok. She led a team to engage public and private investors and developed national policy dialogues and networks on SDG investment, piloted SDG-aligned funds, bonds and projects in multiple countries. She helped to position UNDP as a pioneer in the UN on sustainable investment and innovative finance. She also held positions as Policy Specialist in Capacity Development and Public-Private Partnerships in New York and Johannesburg since 2009, overseeing a regional portfolio in Eastern and Southern Africa.

Before joining UNDP, she spent about 10 years in the private sector in China and the USA, covering market entry and investment strategy, merger and acquisition, business development and sustainability. She holds a master’s degree in business administration from Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, and participated in the Executive Leadership program at IESE, and Finance Executive program at Tsinghua University.

Professor Damilola S. Olawuyi, SAN is a Professor and UNESCO Chair on Environmental Law and Sustainable Development at Hamad Bin Khalifa University, Doha, Qatar. He is also Chairperson of the United Nations Working Group on Business and Human Rights. A prolific and highly regarded scholar, Professor Olawuyi has published several articles and books on energy, environment, and natural resources law, including Environmental Law in Arab States (Oxford University Press, 2022), which received the 2023 American Society of International Law (ASIL) Certificate of Merit. Professor Olawuyi holds a doctorate (DPhil) in energy and environmental law from the University of Oxford; a Master of Laws (LLM) from Harvard University; and another LLM from the University of Calgary. He has been admitted as Barrister and Solicitor in Alberta, Canada; Ontario, Canada; and Nigeria.He is a regular media commentator on all aspects of natural resources, energy and environmental law.
 

Ahmed is the Director Office of the State of Qatar to the World Trade Organization and other Economic Organisations. He previously served as President of the Executive of the Berne Union at WIPO and previously chaired the WTO Committee on Antidumping Practices from 2021 to 2022. With experience in international dispute settlement, Ahmed has been involved in arbitration, mediation, and State-to-State WTO disputes. Before his current role, he worked for Qatar Gas Company and later as a trade negotiator in the Ministry of Trade.

Ahmed is a regular speaker at international conferences and has published research on WTO dispute settlement reform. He holds a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Tampa and a Juris Doctor from Hamad Bin Khalifa University College of Law, along with advanced training at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government.

Peter Tzeng is an attorney at Foley Hoag, where he exclusively advises and represents sovereign States on matters of public international law, international organizations, and international arbitration. He regularly litigates cases before the International Court of Justice, where he previously clerked for the former President of the Court. He also represents States in inter-State and investor-State arbitration. He is a recipient of the Diploma of The Hague Academy of International Law and a graduate of Yale Law School and Princeton University.