>>Album

Ghanim Al-Jumaily, Ambassador of Iraq to Japan

>>Outline

Marcel Boisard, UN Assistant Secretary-General, Executive Director, UNITAR

>>Speech

Hideaki Shinoda, Associate Professor of Peace Sciences, Hiroshima University

>>Presentation

Speakers:

Ghanim Al-Jumaily, Ambassador of Iraq to Japan

Dr. Ghanim Al-Jumaily, Ambassador of Iraq to Japan, holds a PhD in Electrical Engineering from the University of New Mexico (1987), an MS in Optics, University of Arizona (1983) and a BS in Physics, University of Baghdad (1974). Ambassador Al-Jumaily is a former scientist who holds two patents in the field of optical communications. He also has had experience working at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), participating in projects designed to explore Mars and Saturn. He took his appointment as Ambassador to Japan in July 2004.

Marcel Boisard, UN Assistant Secretary-General, Executive Director, UNITAR

Dr. Marcel A. Boisard, an Assistant-Secretary-General of the United Nation, has a doctoral degree from the Geneva Graduate Institute of International Studies, Switzerland and a Certificate from the Institute of World Affairs, USA. He was a councillor to governments of developing countries and a delegate of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) for almost 15 years. Member of several scientific societies, he is author of over 30 publications dealing with cross-cultural relations, the Arab and Muslim world, multilateral negotiations and intergovernmental organizations. Dr. Boisard is currently the Executive Director of UNITAR.

Hideaki Shinoda, Associate Professor of Peace Sciences, Hiroshima University

Dr. Hideaki Shinoda has been participating in refugee relief activities since his student days, including volunteering to deliver emergency assistance to Kurdish (Iran) and Somalian refugees (Djibouti). He was sent by the Japanese Government to work as an International Polling Station Officer for the United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia. Dr. Shinoda obtained his Ph.D. in International Relations from the London School of Economics and Political Science, University of London, and was a part-time teacher at the London School of Economics and Keele University. In 1999 he joined the Institute for Peace Science, Hiroshima University, as an associate researcher and in 2005 was appointed associate professor, focusing his research on peace building activities in post-conflict areas. He has been a visiting scholar at the Center for the Study of Human Rights, Columbia University, and at the Lauterpacht Research Centre for International Law, University of Cambridge.

Roundtable Topic

One of the most ancient world civilizations, a strategic country lying at the heart of the Middle-East, Iraq now faces a historical challenge in its reconstruction efforts.  These efforts, to be successful, will also demand years of commitment and solidarity from the international community, both within and outside the United Nations family of organizations. Regional and global institutions have worked and will need to continue to work in close partnership with the Government of Iraq, local governments, bilateral aid agencies, nongovernmental organizations and the private sector in this challenging and long-term process.

In this complex effort, the Iraqi government institutions and its civil service will be required to perform with utmost efficiency. Following years of isolation from the outside world, however, the civil service is now facing enormous and pressing needs to strengthen its capacities to promote economic and social development externally, while ensuring coordinated and coherent policies internally. Diplomats and other civil servants, particularly those called to represent Iraq at major global negotiations and meetings, must deal with complex and substantive issues and linkages arising within and across economic and social policies.

This roundtable aims to discuss the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead for Iraq in its reconstruction process -- and look into ways that the country and its international partners can together face the challenges and maximize the opportunities most effectively.