Agenda

Since January 2016, Peggy Hicks has served as director of the Thematic Engagement, Special Procedures and Right to Development Division of the UN Human Rights Office (OHCHR). She provides strategic direction to the UN Human Rights Office’s work on a broad range of pressing human rights issues, including human rights in the digital age.

From 2005 to 2015, she was global advocacy director at Human Rights Watch, where she was responsible for managing Human Rights Watch’s advocacy team and providing direction to its advocacy worldwide. Ms. Hicks previously served as the director of the Office of Returns and Communities in the UN mission in Kosovo and as Deputy High Representative for Human Rights in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

She has also worked as the Director of Programs for the International Human Rights Law Group, and as clinical professor of human rights and refugee law at the University of Minnesota Law School. Ms. Hicks is a graduate of Columbia Law School and the University of Michigan.

Thibaut Kleiner is the Director for Future Networks in DG Connect. He has worked since 2001 at the European Commission. The first ten years of his career in the Commission were spent in the area of competition policy (merger, antitrust and State aid). In September 2011, he moved to the digital policy area, as advisor of Vice-President Neelie Kroes, in charge of the Digital Agenda, and supervised Internet policies at large (Internet Governance, cybersecurity, cloud, data). 

From January 2014 to June 2016, he was head of unit in charge of network technologies (5G and Internet of Things) in DG Connect. From June 2016 to December 2019 he was the deputy head of cabinet of Commissioner Oettinger, in charge of Budget and Human Resources and he then came back to DG Connect to head the unit in charge of Research Strategy and Coordination and was subsequently Director for Policy, Strategy and Outreach from December 2020 until March 2025.

An economist by training Thibaut holds a Master from HEC Paris and a PhD from the London School of Economics.

Ambassador | aiMOM | Influential Figure | Full Stack Human | Dedicated Visionary |

Amb. Lavina Ramkissoon is a visionary figure in the advancement of responsible AI, dedicated to harnessing technology for good and unlocking Africa's potential. Recognised as a Top 10 Leader advancing AI globally.

A true "full-stack human," Amb. Lavina combines her expertise in psychology, technology, and economics to bring a unique and insightful perspective to AI development. Her dedication and achievements are evident in her numerous accolades. A true futurist who's vision is to accelerate the world’s augmentation of data by creating a more intelligent tomorrow through the footprints of collective humane knowledge. She's not just a leader; she's an inspiration, earning the title "#aiMOM" for fostering responsible development for a better tomorrow.

Fiona is Head of Human Rights for Nokia. She leads the oversight, development and implementation of Nokia's Human Rights work. She is responsible for driving cross company-wide policies that best respect human rights globally, along with driving the responsible use of technology. Fiona has been working with Human Rights issues for a number of years and is the board member for Nokia in the Global Network Initiative.

‘Gbenga Sesan is the Executive Director of Paradigm Initiative, a pan-African social enterprise working on digital inclusion and digital rights through its offices in Cameroon, Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. He is a member of the United Nations Secretary-General’s Internet Governance Forum (IGF) High-Level Leadership Panel and a highly sought-after conference speaker, presenting at over 30 national, regional, and international conferences annually.

Before starting Paradigm Initiative, ‘Gbenga led the Lagos Digital Village, a joint project of Junior Achievement of Nigeria, Microsoft, and the Lagos State Government. Originally trained as an Electronic and Electrical Engineer at Obafemi Awolowo University, he completed Executive Education programs at Lagos Business School, New York Group for Technology Transfer, Oxford University, Harvard University, Stanford University, Santa Clara University, University of the Pacific, INSEAD, and King’s College London. ‘Gbenga’s consulting experience includes assignments completed for numerous institutions in the private and public sectors as well as United Nations agencies, in over 30 countries.

A Schwab Foundation Social Entrepreneur of the Year and former member of the United Nations Committee of eLeaders on Youth and ICT, he is a CyberStewards Fellow, Crans Montana Forum Fellow, Archbishop Desmond Tutu Leadership Fellow, Ashoka Fellow, Our Common Future Fellow and Cordes Fellow.

‘Gbenga served as a member of the Presidential committees on Harmonization of Information Technology, Telecommunications, and Broadcasting Sectors (2006) and Roadmap for the Achievement of Accelerated Universal Broadband Infrastructure and Services Provision (2013), and was listed by CNN as one of the Top 10 African Tech Voices on Twitter and by Ventures Africa as one of 40 African Legends Under 40. ‘Gbenga is married to Temilade Sesan, PhD, an Energy Poverty and Development expert.

‘Gbenga was a Non-Resident Fellow at the Digital Civil Society Lab at Stanford University from 2020 to 2021, advised the World Health Organisation on Data Privacy during the early days of the coronavirus pandemic and advised the World Economic Forum on its Operationalising Trust Project, to develop rights-respecting Data Policy for businesses.

Ambassador Suela Janina is a career diplomat of the Republic of Albania. Currently, she is the Permanent Representative of Albania to the United Nations in New York. Before assuming this position, from October 2014 to March 2024, Ambassador Janina has represented Albania as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the European Union, Ambassador to the Kingdom of Belgium and to the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg.  

Ambassador Janina joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Albania in August 1999, where she had previously several diplomatic appointments including the position of the Director of International Law and the General Director for Multilateral Relations.

Suela Janina graduated from the Faculty of Law of the University of Tirana in 1994 and received a Master degree in Democracy and Human Rights in 2001, a diploma accorded jointly by University of Sarajevo (Bosnia and Hercegovina) and University of Bologna (Italy).  She holds from June 2013, the PhD in international law by the University of Tirana.

Ambassador Janina has a wide experience with international organizations. She has been appointed by the Republic of Albania as an Alternate Arbitrator at the OSCE Court of Conciliation and Arbitration and as a Member of the Permanent Court of Arbitration.

In May 2011, Suela Janina has been elected as one of the first ten members and the only female member of the newly created United Nations Committee on Enforced Disappearance. Ms. Janina has been elected for three mandates as Vice Chair of the CED. From 2017 to 2019 she has been the Chair of the Committee on Enforced Disappearances. 

Ambassador Janina represents Albania to the Executive Board of UN Women, as the Vice President of the EEG group for the year 2025. 

Ambassador Ekitela Lokaale is a diplomat, human rights lawyer, development practitioner and politician with more than two decades’ experience in diverse fields of practice.

Since August 2024, he has been serving as Kenya’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York. In addition to spearheading Kenya’s diplomatic engagements at the UN, he has served on the Executive Boards of UNICEF, UNDP and UNFPA and as Vice-Chair of the United Nations Peace Building Commission. He is currently co-facilitator of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) +20 Outcome Review and a Member of the Executive Board of the International Association of Permanent Representatives (IAPR).

Prior to taking up his post at the UN in New York, Ambassador Lokaale headed the Presidential Secretariat of the High-Level Mediation for South Sudan (“Tumaini Initiative”) domiciled at the State Department for Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kenya.

He served as a Climate Change Advisor in the State Department for Foreign Affairs and played an important role during the African Ministerial Conference on the Environment (AMCEN) meetings, the Africa Climate Summit (ACS) in Nairobi and at the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) 28th Conference of Parties (COP 28).

For five years, he served as the Speaker and Head of the Legislative Assembly of Turkana County in Kenya and spearheaded legislative and policy development on climate change, access to water and sanitation, community health, among others.
He has vast experience in human rights, international development, peace-building and conflict prevention in Kenya, Africa and globally having worked with the Kenya Human Rights Commission, Oxfam Novib in Somalia and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). Ambassador Lokaale also served in special assignments for the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), UNDP Zambia and the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI) in India.
He holds Master of Laws (LL.M) in International Development and Human Rights from the University of Warwick (UK), Diploma in Legal Studies from the Kenya School of Law and a Bachelor of Laws (LL.B) from the University of Nairobi (Kenya). He is Married with children.