H.E. Mr. José Manuel Ramos-Horta was born in 1949 in Timor-Leste and dedicated much of his life to the fight for the independence of his country. After independence in 2002, he served as Senior Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs, Prime Minister and Minister of Defense. He was then elected and served as President of the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste from 2007 to 2012. His role as mediator and peacemaker was internationally recognized with the award of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1996 along with Bishop Belo “for their work towards a just and peaceful solution to the conflict in East Timor.” (Norwegian Nobel Institute)
In 2013, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon appointed José Ramos-Horta as his Special Representative and Head of the United Nations Integrated Peacebuilding Office in Guinea-Bissau (UNIOGBIS). In 2014 he was appointed the Chair of the High-Level Independent Panel on Peace Operations to review UN peace and security operations. He was appointed Special Advisor of the GPAJ in 2019.

　Ms. Ameerah Haq is the former UN Under-Secretary-General for the Department of Field Support (2012 to 2014). She has over 39 years of working experience with the United Nations including 19 years of field experience. She was the last Special Representative of the Secretary-General (SRSG) in the UN Integrated Mission in Timor-Leste. She has also held the positions of Deputy SRSG and UN Resident Coordinator in Sudan, as well as Deputy SRSG and UN Resident Coordinator in Afghanistan. In addition, Ms. Haq has held senior positions within the UN Development Programme and has served as UN Resident Coordinator in Malaysia and Laos. She most recently served as the Vice Chair of the High-Level Independent Panel on Peace Operations for the United Nations (UN). She currently serves on the Board for the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue, on the Secretary-General’s Senior Expert Group on Human Rights Up Front, and the Center for International Peace Operations, Berlin.