Agenda

András Szörényi is senior policy advisor at Geneva Cities Hub where he works on issues like smart cities, digital transformation, urban health and climate change. Before that he worked in different diplomatic capacities in Brussels, covering EU affairs, Washington D.C. dealing with bilateral relations and in Geneva, working with the United Nations and other International Organizations. He has first-hand experience of negotiating in the European Union and the UN system as well as conceptualizing and implementing diplomatic initiatives on a wide variety of issues.

With a deep knowledge of international relations, he always focuses on new global developments and emerging challenges. He has a broad understanding of the engagement of non-state actors on multi-stakeholder platforms. He has been particularly interested in the increasing influence of non-state actors on the development of international relations since his Ph.D. research. Dr. Szörényi holds a DEA in Comparative Political Sciences from Sciences Po Paris and a Ph.D. in International Economics from Corvinus University, Budapest.

Cristina Bueti is the ITU Focal Point on Environment and Smart Sustainable Cities. She is also the Counsellor of ITU-T Study Group 20 “Internet of things (IoT) and smart cities and communities (SC&C)” at the International Telecommunication Union (ITU). She also serves as TSB/ITU focal point for Latin America. Cristina Bueti graduated from the Faculty of Political Science, Law and International Cooperation and Development of the University of Florence, where she completed postgraduate studies in International Cooperation and Telecommunications Law in Europe. She ​also holds a specialization in Environmental Law with a special focus on Telecommunications.

In 2003, Ms. Bueti built on her academic credentials by completing a specialized course in peace keeping and international cooperation with special focus on telecommunications at the Faculty of Laws, University of Malta, before joining the International Telecommunication Union in Geneva in January 2004. As part of the International Women's Day 2016, she was named as one of the twenty Geneva-based inspirational women working to protect the environment. She has authored over 40 reports on telecommunication issues. A native Italian speaker, Cristina is also fluent in English, French and Spanish.​

Mr. Sami Kanaan, Deputy-Mayor of the City of Geneva, and President of the Geneva Cities Hub Geneva Cities Hub. He was elected to the parliament of the City of Geneva, between 1997 and 2001, and to the parliament of the Canton of Geneva between 2001 and 2005. In the spring of 2011, he was elected to Geneva’s City Hall, and since he has served as Mayor or deputy Mayor at several terms. He is currently in charge of the Department of Culture and Digital Transition. Since 2016, he chairs the federal Child and Youth Commission and is Vice-President of the Swiss Union of Cities and the Geneva Union of Cities. Mr. Kanaan graduated in Physics and in Political Science.

Tunisian born, Dr. Bilel Jamoussi is Chief of the Study Groups Department of ITU Standardization Bureau in Geneva Switzerland. Since 2010, he has been leading the bureau’s standards making activities into a new era characterized by rapid convergence and the need for increased collaboration with vertical sectors and partnership between developed and developing countries. Prior to 2010, Jamoussi worked for a Telecommunication equipment and solutions provider for 15 years in Canada and then in the United States where he held several leadership positions and was granted 22 US patents in diverse areas including packet, optical, wireless, and quality of service. He holds a BSc, MSc and PhD degrees in Computer Engineering from the Pennsylvania State University, USA. He is fluent in Arabic, French, and English and speaks some Spanish and German.

Governor Raphaelle Veronica "Rafy" Ortega-David, 25 years old, hails from the City of San Fernando, La Union. Prior to being elected as the youngest and first lady Governor of the Province of La Union, she was a licensed commercial pilot and served as the LUVWI Chapter President of the City of San Fernando. She also served as a Volunteer Emergency Technician at the PDRRMO, and a Lifeguard.

The men in Gov. Rafy's life are her husband Kevin Louie C. David and their son Valentino Manuel O. David. Gov. Rafy is the third daughter of Immediate Past Governor Francisco Emmanuel "Pacoy" R. Ortega III and former Congresswoman Vini Nola A. Ortega.

During her term, she will advocate for Women Empowerment, Youth Development, and the P.U.S.O Governance Agenda through La Union PROBINSYAnihan, the call to action of Gov. Rafy for every person to unite and work together to achieve a Stronger La Union, a province worth living in.

Dorothy Kisaka is the Executive Director at Kampala Capital City Authority, KCCA, providing strategic leadership for Uganda’s Capital City. She has served as Senior Governance Advisor to the Prime Minister of Uganda, Deputy Head of the Prime Minister's Delivery Unit, and Administrator to the National Response Fund to COVID-19 in Commissioner at the NRM Electoral Commission

She is a family law specialist and a strong advocate for the placement of abandoned children in families.
Dorothy Kisaka is the founder of Destiny Leadership School and mentors leaders worldwide as visiting international faculty.
She is the Board Chairman for Development Associates International, DAI, member of the Board of Trustees for Haggai International, representing Africa. Dorothy Kisaka lives in Kampala Uganda with her husband and children.

Prior to her appointment as Secretary-General of WeGO, Jung Sook Park has dedicated her career in the field of international cooperation. She served as the Korean Representative of the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunizations (GAVI) for ten years from 2009 to 2018, and she worked as a high-profile broadcaster as the host of morning news shows for major TV networks in Korea for over ten years from 1994 to 2004, as well as starring in “Jewel in the Palace,” one of the highest-rated TV dramas in the world. Since then, she has focused her career on education and research as a professor at Kyung Hee University and an adjunct professor of cultural diplomacy at the Institute of Foreign Affairs and National Security of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Korea.

She served as the honorary ambassador for Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA), and the City of Seoul with a mission of increasing public awareness on Korea’s leading and responsible role in the international community. As a philanthropist, she is the Founder and Executive Director of the Multicultural Network & Hope Kids Korea, an NGO that provides education and mentoring for underprivileged children in Korea. Ms. Park is a graduate of Seoul Women’s University (BA), Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs (MIA), and Yonsei University’s School of Public Administration (MPA) in Korea. She was a visiting scholar and studied in a doctoral program at Keio University.

Sarah Lister is UNDP’s Head of Governance and oversees policy and programme support to its governance portfolio globally, which includes electoral cycle support, parliamentary development, anti-corruption, legal identity, youth empowerment and disability inclusion. She has more than 25 years’ experience working on democratic governance, including civic engagement, media and communication, social accountability, public administration reform and governance measurement. From 2015-2019 she was the Director of UNDP’s Oslo Governance Centre where she led the team bridging research, policy and practice on governance and peacebuilding in transitional contexts, with a particular focus on SDG16. Among other positions, she has also worked for BBC Media Action, the Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit in Kabul and the Institute of Development Studies, UK. She has lived and worked in Asia, Africa, Latin America and Europe. Sarah holds a PhD and MSc in Social Policy from the London School of Economics, and a BA in History from Cambridge University, UK.