“The High Level Advisory Board acknowledges the value of personal experience and the less formal networks and relationships which contribute to preventing and mediating conflict in our divided world. Many of these conflicts have a religious dimension and the ability to work with faith communities is a critical factor in mitigating many conflicts.

Mr. Valdés was Foreign Minister of Chile, former Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York and, most recently, Ambassador to the United States.  He was the first Special Representative of the Secretary-General (SRSG) and head of MINUSTAH in Haiti and recently led a strategic assessment of MINUSCA, the UN peacekeeping operation in the Central African Republic.

Chairperson of the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC), Ms. Samar was, from 2005 to 2009, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Sudan.  She has overseen the expansion of human rights education, the implementation of a women's rights program, and the monitoring and investigation of human rights abuses across Afghanistan.  Ms.

Mr. Rosenthal has held senior positions in the Guatemalan Government – he was Minister of Planning and Foreign Minister between 1969-1974 and 2006-2008, respectively – and with the United Nations. He was the Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) from 1989 to 1997 and has since been Permanent Representative of Guatemala to the United Nations twice (1999-2004, 2008-2014), heading his delegation in the Security Council during 2012 and 2013. In January 2015 the then Secretary-General nominated Mr.

“In a world where conflicts seem to constantly arise and cascade all around, the initiative launched by the UN Secretary General to create a High Level Advisory Board on Mediation is to my understanding a significant sign of hope in that it brings a diversity of historical background and political experience around the discussion on the potential healing power of the spoken word, of dialogue. This of course will only work if we, as a collective, are able to establish trust and truthfulness as the fundamentals of our mission and of our internal practice as a group.”

“Placing prevention at the heart of the sustaining peace agenda is a bold move, and requires continuous efforts at different levels. I believe that the change should start at the community level, and I hope to complement such process with my knowledge and political instinct.”

Mr. Obasanjo is one of the most distinguished elder statesmen of Africa. He served as President of the Republic of Nigeria from 1999 to 2007, and before that as the Head of the Federal Military Government of Nigeria and Commander-in-Chief of the Nigerian Armed Forces from 1976 to 1979. Over his long career, Mr. Obasanjo has been involved in numerous international mediation efforts, including in Angola, Burundi, Mozambique, Namibia and South Africa. In 2008 he was appointed the UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy on the Great Lakes region.

“In these troubled times, fraught and replete with potential and actual conflicts; of trust deficits and a sense of a world adrift, there is a critical need for renewed commitment to diplomacy and mediation to address humanity’s common challenges. A clarion call for persistent, resolute and resilient efforts at peacemaking; for waging peace.”

“Meaningful dialogue and human engagement strike at the core of what mediation efforts should seek to achieve, and are vital tools in the pursuit of peace and assisting parties on their journey toward mutual understanding and compromise. I am honored to serve on the UN Secretary-General’s High-level Advisory Board. I look forward to contributing to his diplomatic surge to help prevent and resolve conflicts, and - importantly  - their root causes.”

Ms. Machel is a former freedom fighter, the first Minister of Education of Mozambique (1975-1989), and an international advocate for women’s and children’s rights. In 1994, the then Secretary-General appointed her to lead an assessment of the impact of armed conflict on children; the resulting report still resonates today. Ms. Machel was, with her husband Nelson Mandela, a founding member of The Elders. She also founded the Graça Machel Trust and was a Member of the UN High-Level Panel on the Post-2015 Development Agenda. As a member of the AU Panel of Eminent African Personalities, Ms.