Sadaka Visiting Speaker programme

Dr. Mustafa Barghouthi is a Palestinian physician, social, political, human rights and peace activist and politician who serves as General Secretary of the Palestinian National Initiative (PNI). He has been a member of the Palestinian Legislative Council since 2006 and is also a member of the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) Central Council. In 2007, Barghouti was Minister of Information in the first National Unity Government in Palestinian history. He was a presidential candidate in the elections of 2005 as a representative of the Palestinian National Initiative, on an anti-corruption and pro-democracy platform, achieving second place behind President Mahmoud Abbas, with almost one third of total votes. He is an outspoken advocate of internal reform; an international spokesperson for the Palestinian cause and a leading figure in the non-violent, peaceful struggle against the Occupation. Dr. Barghouthi is one of the most active grassroots leaders in Palestine.

Dr. Rima Khalaf-Hunaidi has served in several leadership positions in Jordan and the United Nations, most recently as the Under Secretary-General and Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA). Khalaf resigned her post in 2017 when she refused to withdraw a seminal report on the suffering of Palestinians under Israeli occupation; the report had concluded based on overwhelming evidence that Israel has established an apartheid regime that oppresses and dominates the Palestinian people as a whole, whether they live in the Palestinian territory occupied in 1967, in Israel itself, or in the diaspora. Previously, Khalaf served as director of the Regional Bureau for Arab States with the UN Development Program, initiating projects to promote good governance, human rights and human development in Arab countries. Before joining the UN Development Program, Khalaf served in senior government posts in Jordan, including Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Industry and Trade, and Minister of Planning. She also served as Senator in the Upper House of the Jordanian Parliament. Khalaf holds a Bachelor’s degree in Economics from the American University of Beirut, as well as a Master’s degree in Economics and a Ph.D. in System Science from Portland State University in Oregon. In December 2009, the Financial Times listed Dr. Khalaf among the top fifty people who shaped the decade.