The Programme Committee provides strategic guidance and intellectual oversight for the Institute’s courses and public programmes. Drawing on extensive experience from diplomacy, academia, civil society, and public life, the Committee contributes to the quality, relevance, and integrity of the Institute’s educational offerings.
Dr. Francis M. Deng
Dr. Deng served as United Nations Special Adviser to the Secretary-General on the Prevention of Genocide at the level of Under-Secretary-General from 2007 to 2012, following his appointment by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.
He has held numerous senior positions in international diplomacy, academia, and public service. Dr. Deng served as the UN Secretary-General’s Representative on Internally Displaced Persons from 1992 to 2004, and earlier as a Human Rights Officer in the UN Secretariat. He was also Sudan’s Ambassador to Canada, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden, and the United States, as well as Minister of State for Foreign Affairs.
In academia and policy research, Dr. Deng has held senior roles at institutions including the United States Institute of Peace, MIT, the Library of Congress, Johns Hopkins University, the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, The Brookings Institution—where he founded and directed the Africa Project—and the City University of New York.
Dr. Deng is the author or editor of more than 30 books on law, human rights, conflict resolution, internal displacement, and African politics, and has also written two novels. His honors include the 2005 Grawemeyer Award for Ideas Improving World Order, the 2007 American Dream Leadership Award, and the Rome Prize for Peace and Humanitarian Action. He holds law degrees from the University of Khartoum and Yale University.
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Mikael Edelstam
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Prof. Dr. Manuel Fröhlich
Manuel Fröhlich holds the Chair of International Relations and Foreign Policy at Trier University since 2015. He is an elected board member of the German Society for Political Science and editor of the German Journal of Political Science (Zeitschrift für Politikwissenschaft). Fröhlich also holds various tenures on the board and research council of the German United Nations Association.
He co-founded and edits the book series ‘The United Nations and Global Change’ (Nomos). Prof. Fröhlich was awarded fellow status of the NRW School of Governance in 2009, has been awarded the honour of giving the John W. Holmes Memorial Lecture by the Academic Council on the United Nations System in 2013 and received the presidential teaching award of Friedrich-Schiller-University, Jena in 2014.
He has published several books and articles on a range of issues from the United Nations and global governance to the political philosophy of international relations and the role of individuals in world politics as well as the transformation of sovereignty, the responsibility to protect and peacekeeping. For a complete list of publications and more information see www.ib.uni-trier.de
Mats Hellström
Mats Hellström is a Swedish politician, diplomat, and senior public servant, and a long-standing member of the Swedish Social Democratic Party. He currently serves as Chairman of Norden International, where he remains actively engaged in promoting Nordic cooperation and international dialogue.
He has held several senior ministerial positions in the Swedish government, including Minister for Foreign Trade(1983–1986 and 1994–1996), during the latter period also responsible for EU Affairs, and Minister of Agriculture (1986–1991). Mr. Hellström served as a Member of the Swedish Parliament (Riksdag) from 1969 to 1996, where he held key roles such as Chair of the Finance Committee and member of the Committee on Foreign Affairs. He also represented Sweden in the Council of Europe and the Nordic Council.
In addition to his political career, Mr. Hellström has an extensive international and diplomatic background. He served as a United Nations delegate, was appointed Ambassador of Sweden to Germany (1996–2001), and later served as Governor of Stockholm County (2002–2006). He continues to contribute to international cooperation, governance, and policy dialogue through his leadership and advisory roles.
Anders Kompass
Mr. Anders Kompass took up his duties in Geneva as Director, Field Operations and Technical Cooperation Division of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in February, 2009. In previous years, he served OHCHR as Representative of its Guatemala Office (2005-2009), Representative of its Mexico Office (2002-2005) and as Country Director of its Colombia Office (1999-2002). During the latter period, he was also acting UN Resident Coordinator (2001-2002).
Of Swedish nationality, Mr. Kompass was Ambassador and Director in the Americas Department in the Ministry for Foreign Affairs in Stockholm between 1996 and 1999. He specialized in the areas of human rights, democracy and development.
Between 1992 and 1995 he was UNDP Resident Representative and UN Resident Coordinator for El Salvador and Belize. From 1995-1996, he served as Deputy Director for Latin America and the Caribbean at UNDP Headquarters in New York.
From 1990 to 1992 he was Head of the Political Section (Latin America) in the Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs in Stockholm, and from 1986 to 1990 Head of its Bilateral Development Cooperation Section, responsible for Latin America and the Caribbean.
From 1983 to 1986, Mr. Kompass was First Secretary at the Swedish Embassy in Mexico City as well as Chargé d’Affaires in El Salvador.
He studied economic history, geography and political science at the University of Uppsala in Sweden He also carried out postgraduate studies in Latin-American history at El Colegio de Mexico in Mexico City.
Jan Axel Nordlander
Mr. Nordlander holds an LLB from the University of Uppsala and a BA in the Humanities. He served as Ambassador first to Damascus, then to Bangkok and was Sweden’s Ambassador-at-large for human rights 2005-10. In that capacity he represented Sweden at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva and chaired the EU’s Human Rights dialogues with third countries in 2009. At the Foreign Ministry he was Director-General first of the Middle East Department and later of the Department for Consular Affairs and Civil Law.
Since his retirement he has been a Senior Adviser to the Dag Hammarskjöld Foundation and to Färgfabriken Center for Art, Architecture and Urbanism and a Human Rights Mentor to The Swedish Armed Forces International Center. He is a former Chair of the Nomination Committee of the Edelstam Prize for Civic Courage within the Defence of Human Rights.
Anette Pettersson
Anette Pettersson has more than 30 years of experience in democracy development, working across civil society and the public sector. She has extensive expertise in integrating sustainable democracy and human rights work within civil society organisations, popular education, government agencies, and municipal administrations.
Her core areas of expertise include collaborative approaches to democracy-building, democratic leadership, organisational development, democratic meeting practices, participation and influence, and citizen engagement—particularly with a strong focus on children’s and young people’s participation at local, national, and international levels.
Throughout her career, Anette has held several senior leadership roles, including serving as Head of the Democracy Academy and Director of the Human Rights Days, where she was responsible for strategic development, programme content, and organisational leadership within the field of democracy and human rights.
