Mr. Hugh Bayley, United Kingdom, PNoWB Chair

Hugh Bayley was re-elected as the Labour Member of Parliament for the City of York in May 2005, where he was first elected in 1992. He is member of the Select Committee on International Development and a founder member of All Party Africa Group.  His first political mandate dated back to 1980 when he was elected as a councillor in the London Borough of Camden (1980-1986).  He moved to York in 1986 to become a research fellow in Health Economics at University of York.  After his re-election for City of York in 1997, he was appointed Parliamentary Private Secretary to Secretary of State for Health, and then Junior Minister at the Department of Social Security, in January 1999.  Hugh Bayley was appointed as Chair of the Westminster Foundation for Democracy by Jack Straw in 2005 and is also the Chair of the Parliamentary Labour Party International Development Committee.

Ms. Monica Frassoni, MEP, Italy; PNoWB Vice-Chair

Monica Frassoni is a member of the European Parliament where she was first elected in 1999 as part of the Belgium Green Party (Ecolo) and then in 2004 as part of the Italian Green Party (Federazioni Dei Verdi), that she actively helped to set up, as a member of the Executive Committee. She is member of the Committee on Legal Affairs and of the Delegation for relations with Mercosur. and a substitute member of the Committee on Constitutional Affairs, of the Committee on Environment, Public Health and Food Safety, of the Delegation for relations with Iran and of the Delegation to the Euro-Mediterranean Parliamentary Assembly. Since December 2001 Monica Frassoni serves as Co-President of the Green/EFA Group in the EP, along with Daniel Cohn-Bendit.

Mr. Yunus Carrim, South Africa, PNoWB Vice-Chair

Yunus Carrim is a member of the South African Parliament since 1994. He is the chair of the Public Enterprises Portfolio Committee and the chair of the Membership of Legislatures ad hoc Committee.  His political engagement dated back to 1971, when he organised anti-Apartheid Republic Day Festival demonstrations at high school.  He was detained without trial from August to December 1976 for organising demonstrations against Soweto massacre at the University of Durban-Westville.  He is serving as the Executive Committee member of Natal Indian Congress and Council member of United Democratic Front (Pietermaritzburg) since the mid-eighties.  He is also engaged in a range of community, sports and educational organisations. Before joining the parliament, Yunus Carrim was a senior lecturer in sociology at the University of Natal, (Pietermaritzburg) and a freelance journalist.  He is the author of several academic articles and journalistic pieces on South African Politics, Labour, “National Question”, Local Government and other issues.

Mr. Santiago Castro, Colombia, Treasurer

Santiago Castro Gomez was re-elected for forth term to the Colombian House of Representatives in 2006 in representation of the State of Valle del Cauca. Mr. Castro has dedicated most of his life to the public service. He started very young at the age of 24 years old as councilor of the City of Santiago de Cali during 1990 to 1992. From 1992 to 1994, he was member of the regional assembly, where he decided to make the next step to the House of Representatives. Since Mr. Castro has been in the House of Representatives, he has served in the Financial Committee, where economic and tax policies are discussed. Mr. Castro earned his Bachelor of Arts in Economics and Political Science from Catholic University of America. He has also a Master Degree in Public Administration from the Kennedy School of Government of Harvard University.  

Ms. Janette Garin, Philippines

Janette L. Garin is a member of the Philippines House of Representatives since 2004 for the Lakas-Christian Muslim Democrats Party.  She is the Vice-Chair of three Committees: Health, Agriculture and Food, and Aquaculture and Fisheries Resources. Janette Garin is also a physician. 

Ms. Corina Cretu, MEP, Romania

Corina Cretu is a member of the European Parliament and a full-member of its Development Committee. She began her career as journalist in several Romanian national newspapers and then served as an expert in the Romanian Presidency and Senate. A communications and public information specialist, she was offered the position of Spokesperson to the President of Romania and Chief of the public communication department in 2000. Corina Cretu was first elected in the Romanian Senate in 2004 for the Social Democratic Party. She joined the European Parliament upon accession of Romania to the European Union in 2007. Corina Cretu graduated from the Planning and Cybernetics Faculty of the Academy for Economic Studies in Bucharest.

Prof. Najeeb S. Ghanem, Yemen

Prof. Najeeb Saeed Ghanem Aldobai graduated with a Ph.D in Medical science (Pharmacology) from London University (UCL) in 1988. Back in Yemen, he served as pharmacology professor in the Faculty of Medicine and Health Science at Sanaa University. He was then appointed as Minister for Health from 1993 to 1997. Professor Ghanem was elected in the Parliament in 2003 and is the Chair of the Health and Population Committee since that time. “Information is the key of knowledge, and knowledge is the basis for sustainable development."

Ms. Ndeye Fatou Toure, Senegal

Ms. Ndeye Fatou Toure is a member of the Senegalese Parliament since 2007. She is involved in several committees: the Decentralization, Work and Human Rights Laws Committee; the Finance, General Economy, Planning and Economic Cooperation Committee; and the Delegations from the National Assembly Committee. In addition, she is particularly active in several parliamentary organizations, especially the network against sexual abuses of children and the network for population and development at the National Assembly. At the same time, she is also the representative of the National Assembly in the Senegalese human rights committee. Since 1988, Ms. Ndeye Fatou Toure is a lawyer and she intervenes in professional workshops and conferences regularly. Ms. Ndeye Fatou Toure graduated in Law from the University Cheikh Anta Diop in Dakar and is a laureate of the Senegalese Bar exam.

Mr. Jeppe Kofod, Denmark

Jeppe Kofod is a member of the Danish Parliament, where he represents the Bornholm County constituency since 1998. He serves in the Folketinget European Affairs Committee, the Environment Committee and is the Deputy Chairman of the Foreign Policy Committee. Moreover, Jeppe Kofod is the Foreign Affairs spokesman in the Social Democratic Party and is the Vice President of AWEPA, a civil society organization, which builds bridges between European Parliamentarians and Africa. Jeppe Kofod studied social science in Roskilde University and graduated from Harvard University MPA.

Dr. Laode Ida, Indonesia

Dr. Laode Ida is the Deputy Speaker of the Indonesian Upper House since 2004. He began is career as social worker and journalist. He then joined the NGO and civil society community and held several management and leadership positions in the Institute for Social Economic Studies and Guidance (LEPPSEK), the Center for Regional and Development Studies (PSPK) and the Indonesian Forum for Transparency in Budget (FITRA), sponsored by the Ford Foundation and the Asia Foundation. From 2000 to 2003, he also served in several UNDP and World Bank projects in Indonesia. A political sociology expert, he was appointed a member of the Constitutional Committee of the Republic of Indonesia in order to review the amended Constitution in 2003. Dr. Laode Ida holds a Master in Sociology and a PhD in Political Sociology from the University of Indonesia in Jakarta.

Ms. Marie Rose Nguini Effa, Cameroon

Marie Rose Nguini Effa is a member of the National Assembly in Cameroon, the Vice-Chair of the Social, Cultural and Familial Affairs Committee and she sits in the Cameroon-France Friendship Group. Marie Rose Gnuini Effa is also a representative of her country in the Pan African Parliament. Active in the civil society and NGO community, she chairs the National Commission for the fight against HIV/AIDS, Malaria and Tuberculosis. She is the Honorary President of a Cameroon Red-Cross chapter and a founding member of the Association of Mefou and Akono Women for Development too. Marie-Rose Nguini Effa holds a BA in Economics from the Paris Sorbonne Nouvelle University and the International School of Geneva.

Dr. Alain Destexhe, Belgium

Alain Destexhe is a Belgian Senator and a former Secretary-general of Médecins Sans Frontières and President of the International Crisis Group. He is a Medical Doctor and further graduated from the Paris Institute of Political Studies. Alain Destexhe is the author of several books and articles on humanitarian issues and international relations, including "Rwanda and Genocide in the XXth Century" (New York University Press).