Professor of Anthropology, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, and former Assistant Director-General for Culture, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). Dr. Arizpe recently held the position of Assistant Director-General for Culture at UNESCO Paris. She earned an M.A. in Anthropology, followed by a Ph.D. in Social Anthropology, at the London School of Economics and Political Science. Dr. Arizpe has held several notable international positions. She was the President of the International Union of Anthropological and Ethnological Sciences, and is at present President for the International Social Science Council (ISSC). She also served as Vice- President for the Society for International Development (SID) and she was a member of the Steering Committee for Development Alternatives for Women in a New Era (DAWN). Dr. Arizpe was a member of the World Commission on Culture and Development and Chair of the Scientific Committee of the World Culture Report. As a research scholar and lecturer, she received a Fulbright-Hayes as well as a John D. Guggenheim grant and has received several awards for her scientific work. She has been a Fellow of the Global Economic Forum of Davos.

Mounir Bouchenaki was elected Director-General of ICCROM (International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property) in November 2005. His appointment at ICCROM follows a long career at UNESCO, where he was most recently Assistant Director-General for Culture. Previously, Mr Bouchenaki had been Director of Antiquities, Museums and Historic Monuments in the Algerian Ministry of Culture and Information. Mr Bouchenaki holds a Ph.D. in archaeology and ancient history from the Arts Faculty of Aix-en-Provence (France). He has been awarded the titles of Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres and Officier des Arts et des Lettres by the French Ministry of Culture, and in 2002 was raised to the rank of Commendatore of the Order of the Star of Italian Solidarity by the President of the Italian Republic. In April 2006 he has been nominated by the President of the Republic of France as Chevalier de la Légion d’Honneur.

H.E. Ms Vigdís Finnbogadóttir was the first woman to become a democratically elected Head of State. She was appointed a UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador in 1998. She has been actively involved in the UNESCO Panel on Information and Communication and is President of the World Commission on the Ethics of Scientific Knowledge and Technology. H.E. Ms Vigdís Finnbogadóttir works to promote international collaboration in every field, and in particular in the areas of women’s rights, ecology and education, and she has always been concerned to disseminate these values among young people. She is an ardent advocate of multilingual education and linguistic diversity, and regularly takes part in international conferences in this field. Besides, the University of Iceland founded the Vigdís Finnbogadóttir Institute of Foreign Languages. H.E. Ms Vigdís Finnbogadóttir is serving as a member of the jury of the international Mondialogo School Contest for the second time in succession.

Jean Ping, born in 1942, is a career diplomat. He was President of the 59th session of the General Assembly of the United Nations in 2004, and has held the position of Secretary of State and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Cooperation and Francophony of the Republic of Gabon since January 1999. He holds a state doctorate in economics from the University of Paris I Panthéon-Sorbonne, and has been awarded honorary doctorates by the Chinese Institute of Diplomacy and the Institute of African Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences in Moscow. His skills in the fields of diplomacy and international cooperation have also been demonstrated on the international level at the China- Africa Forum, the third Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD) and conferences between the United States and Africa organised under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA).

Countess Setsuko Klossowska de Rola was born in Tokyo. Her paintings are to be found in major private collections around the world. She was married to the French painter Balthus Klossowski de Rola (1908-2001) and is the Honorary President of the Balthus Foundation. The Countess is the Cultural Patron of the UNESCO World Heritage Convention and has a particular interest in the interrelationships between education, culture and nature. She was appointed a UNESCO Artist for Peace on 7 January 2005. Countess Setsuko Klossowska de Rola is serving as a member of the jury of the international Mondialogo School Contest for the second time in succession.