Judging Committee

His Excellency Mahamadou Issoufou is the former president of Niger, serving from 2011 to 2021. He had previously served as Prime Minister of Niger from April 1993 to September 1994, when he resigned. He then became President of the National Assembly from February 18, 1995 to January 27, 1996, when a military coup put an end to the democratic process underway. During the period of political instability that followed the disputed elections of July 1996, His Excellency Mahamadou Issoufou was subject to persecution, including arrests, deportations, house arrest and other deprivations of liberty. After the 1999 presidential election, which he lost in the second round, he became the leader of the Nigerien political opposition until 2010. In 2011, Mahamadou Issoufou was elected President of the Republic of Niger. In 2013 he was appointed as co-chairman of the Presidential Task Force on the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) single currency project. He has served as Chairman of the Climate Commission for the Sahel region in the COP 21 and Chairman of the High Level Committee for Food Security of the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU)

His Excellency José Ramos Horta is a Nobel Peace Laureate who previously served as President of East Timor from 2007 to 2012. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1996 for his work towards a just and peaceful solution to the conflict in East Timor. Before becoming president, His Excellency Horta served as Prime Minister and Minister of Defense from 2006 to 2007 and as Minister for Foreign Affairs and Cooperation from 2002 to 2006.

After leaving office, Ramos-Horta was appointed as the United Nations' Special Representative and Head of the United Nations Integrated Peacebuilding Office in Guinea-Bissau (UNIOGBIS) in January 2013. In October 2014, he was appointed by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to chair the High Level Independent Panel on Peace Operations.

Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka is the United Nations Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director of UN Women. In her role as head of the United Nations entity dedicated to gender equality and women empowerment, Ms. Mlambo-Ngucka promotes the role of women in leadership and the end of discrimination and violence against women and girls, through coalition and movement building among global leaders in public and private sectors.

A longtime champion of women’s rights, Ms. Mlambo-Ngucka previously served as South Africa’s Deputy President, Minister of Minerals and Energy, and Deputy Minister in the Department of Trade and Industry Ms. Mlambo-Ngcuka also worked as a teacher and gained international experience as a coordinator at the World YWCA in Geneva, where she established a global program for young women. She is the founder of the Umlambo Foundation, which supports leadership and education

His Eminence Cardinal Michael Czerny is the Under-secretary of the Migrants and Refugees Section of the Holy See's Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, a position he has held since 2017. A member of the Jesuit order, Cardinal Czerny has worked to promote social justice in Canada, Latin America, Africa, and Rome. He founded and directed the African Jesuit Aids Network (Ajan), a support network for African Jesuits engaged in finding solutions to the HIV pandemic.

For ten years, until 2002, Cardinal Czerny served as secretary of the Secretariat for Social Justice at the General Curia of the Jesuits in Rome. On October 5, 2019, Pope Francis made him Cardinal Deacon of San Michele Arcangelo, Rome. He was appointed a member of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples on February 21, 2020.

Dr. Leah Pisar is Chair of Project Aladdin, which works to counter violent extremism, anti-Semitism, and anti-Muslim bigotry and to foster dialogue with the Muslim world at-large, and to address Europe’s “crisis of social cohesion.” It works with governments, civil society leaders, and educators throughout the Middle East, Europe, Africa and Asia. Launched in 2009 by Jacques Chirac, King Mohammed VI of Morocco, Shimon Peres, Abdoulaye Wade, Gerhard Schroeder and Prince Hassan of Jordan - with the support of the European Union and the leaders of Egypt, Tunisia, and several other nations - Project Aladdin has produced a considerable body of literature in Arabic, Farsi and Turkish, including the first translations of The Diary of Anne Frank (2 million copies in Arabic and Farsi sold or downloaded), as well as a series of books about the history of the Jews in Muslim lands, authored by respected Muslim and Jewish historians.

Dr. Pisar is an expert on transatlantic relations and on US and EU foreign policy, with substantial knowledge of the Middle East and the workings of the United Nations. She held several positions in the Clinton administration: At the White House as Director for communications at the National Security Council, at the U.S. Department of State in the Bureau of Public Affairs and at the U.S. Embassy in Paris as Special Assistant and Speechwriter to Ambassador Pamela Harriman.

Judge Mohamed Abdelsalam is the Secretary-General of the Higher Committee of Human Fraternity, an independent international organization. He is a member judge of the State Council of Egypt and the former special advisor to the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar Professor Ahmed Al-Tayeb. He took part in drafting the Document on Human Fraternity, co-signed by Pope Francis and the Grand Imam in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, in February 2019. The same year, Pope Francis awarded Judge Abdelsalam the Order of Pope Pius IX, Knight Commander with Star, for his services towards spreading tolerance and interfaith dialogue. He is the first Egyptian, Arab, and Muslim to be awarded this accolade. Judge Abdelsalam represented Al-Azhar Al-sharif — the oldest Islamic institution and the world’s most prestigious center of Arabic and Islamic studies—in the Constituent Assembly charged with drafting a new constitution for Egypt and participated in drafting Al-Azhar Documents from 2011-2018. Judge Abdelsalam is a member of the executive office of the Muslim Council of Elders, an advisor to the Muslim Council of Elders, and a member of Al-Azhar Center for Interreligious Dialogue.

Cardinal Dominique Mamberti graduated in public law and political science. He entered the Holy See’s diplomatic service in 1986. The Cardinal has spent almost 30 years in the Vatican's diplomatic service, working in Algeria, Chile, at the United Nations in New York and in Lebanon, as well as at the Vatican Secretariat of State. In 2014, Pope Francis appointed him Prefect of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signature and, as such, President of the High Court of the Vatican City state.

In February 2015 Pope Francis created and proclaimed him Cardinal, titular of Santo Spirito in Sassia (Holy Spirit in Sassia). In April of the same year he was appointed President of the Commission for Advocates. He is a member of the Council of Cardinals and Bishops of the Section for the Relations with States of the Secretariat of State, and also member of the Congregations for Divine Worship and the Discipline of Sacraments, for the Causes of Saints, for the Evangelization of Peoples, and the Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts.

Since July 2012 to 2020, Adama Dieng has served as the United Nations Secretary General Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide. In January 2019, Mr. Dieng was appointed by the UN Secretrary-General to chair a Working to produce the UN Strategy and Plan of Action to Address and Counter Hate Speech. He has promoted the adoption of the Plan of Action for Religious Leaders to Prevent Incitement to Violence that could lead to Atrocity Crimes known as the Fez Plan of Action, which was launched by the UN Secretary-General Guterres on July 14th 2017. Before his current appointment as Special Adviser of the Secretary-General, Adama Dieng served as the Registrar of the United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda for more than 12 years.

Judge Mohamed Abdelsalam is the Secretary-General of the Higher Committee of Human Fraternity, an independent international organization. He is a member judge of the State Council of Egypt and the former special advisor to the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar Professor Ahmed Al-Tayeb. He took part in drafting the Document on Human Fraternity, co-signed by Pope Francis and the Grand Imam in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, in February 2019. The same year, Pope Francis awarded Judge Abdelsalam the Order of Pope Pius IX, Knight Commander with Star, for his services towards spreading tolerance and interfaith dialogue. He is the first Egyptian, Arab, and Muslim to be awarded this accolade. Judge Abdelsalam represented Al-Azhar Al-sharif — the oldest Islamic institution and the world’s most prestigious center of Arabic and Islamic studies—in the Constituent Assembly charged with drafting a new constitution for Egypt and participated in drafting Al-Azhar Documents from 2011-2018. Judge Abdelsalam is a member of the executive office of the Muslim Council of Elders, an advisor to the Muslim Council of Elders, and a member of Al-Azhar Center for Interreligious Dialogue.