PGA operates under the political direction of the Executive Committee and the International Council, with technical and legal assistance from the Secretariat, which is based in New York and has an office in The Hague.
Our organization is also supported by two advisory bodies: the United Nations Advisory Committee for PGA and the Development Advisory Committee.
Executive Committee
PGA’s Executive Committee consists of 15 member-parliamentarians elected by the International Council on a 40:60 either gender ratio. It meets twice a year and is responsible for policy and fiduciary oversight, including the approval of PGA’s strategic plan.
Hon. Qamar serves as Federal Minister for Commerce and Investment, member of the Pakistan People’s Party and former Defense Minister. He is a champion for the protection of the oceans, addressing the illicit trade of small arms and light weapons and the rights of transgender persons in his country.
Mr. Ehsassi is a liberal politician who represents the riding of Willowdale, Ontario in Canada's House of Commons. He is Chair of the House Foreign Affairs and International Development Committee.
Ms. Bayr is a Member of the Austrian National Council and Social Democratic Party of Austria (SPÖ) spokesperson for global development. She serves as General Rapporteur on Combating Racism and Intolerance at the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe..
Dip. Margarita Stolbizer
(Argentina)
Dip. Stolbizer is a member of the Chamber of Deputies of Argentina. Originally a member of the Radical Civic Union (UCR), she founded her own party, Generation for a National Encounter (GEN) in 2007. She is a past President of PGA.
Hon. Valerie Woods
Speaker of the House of Representatives (Belize)
Hon. Woods has served as Speaker of Belize's House of Representatives since December 2020. Previously, she was a Senator for the People’s United Party.
Hon. Agho Oliver Bamenju
MP (Cameroon)
Hon. Agho Oliver Bamenju is a Member of Parliament in the Cameroon National Assembly. He is currently one of the youngest Members of Parliament. He is a human rights advocate on issues of child labor and child trafficking.
Hon. Sahar Albazar
MP (Egypt)
Hon. Sahar Albazar is an Egyptian MP and the Deputy Chair of the Foreign Relations Committee at the Egyptian House of Representatives. She is the Head of Harvard Women in Diplomacy, Defense and Development covering Sub- Saharan Africa.
Hon. Amanza Walton-Desir
MP (Guyana)
Hon. Amanza Walton Desir is a Guyanese politician and attorney serving as Shadow Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of Guyana since 2020.
Hon. Dr. Angela Brown Burke
MP (Jamaica)
Dr. Brown Burke has served as Mayor of Kingston and St Andrew before becoming involved in National politics. She was elected the first woman chairperson of the 83-year-old People's National Party (PNP).
Hon. Antonio Niquice
MP (Mozambique)
Hon. Niquice serves as Chairperson of the Planning and Budget Commission (CPO) of the Mozambican Parliament.
Sen. Boris Dittrich
(The Netherlands)
Sen. Dittrich is a member and former leader of the Democrats 66 Party, jurist, author and human rights activist. He is the first member of the Dutch Parliament to have drafted four different Private Bills that have successfully become law and is a leading advocate on the issues of same-sex marriage, euthanasia, legalization of specific forms of sex work and decriminalizing the use of soft drugs. From 2007-2018, He has served as Advocacy Director of the LGBT Rights Program at Human Rights Watch.
Hon. Mirza Ikhtiar Baig
(Pakistan)
Hon. Mirza Ikhtiar Baig is a Member of the National Assembly and former Senior Vice President of the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry.
Hon. Bernard Georges
MP (Seychelles)
Hon. Bernard Georges is a member of the National Assembly of Seychelles. A lawyer by profession, he is a member of the Seychelles National Party, and was first elected to the Assembly in 2002. In 2015, he was appointed to Judge of the Court of Justice for the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa.
Hon. Fox Odoi-Oywelowo
MP (Uganda)
Fox Odoi-Oywelowo is a Ugandan advocate and legislator. An avid human rights advocate and defender, he vows to hold every institution accountable for human rights violations,
Hon. Dr. Galyna Mykhailiuk
MP (Ukraine)
Dr. Galyna Mykhailiuk is a Member of Parliament of Ukraine and Representative of the President of Ukraine in the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine
International Council
PGA’s International Council, composed of the chairs of the National Groups, meets once every year to report on the progress and challenges faced in the advancement of PGA’s campaigns. The Council represents all regions of the world and advises and elects the PGA’s Executive Committee.
Dip. Fernando A. Iglesias
(Argentina)
Hon. Agho Oliver Bamenju
MP (Cameroon)
Hon. Béatrice Epaye
MP (CAR)
Dip. Esther Cuesta
(Ecuador)
Dr. Hannah Neumann
MEP (Germany)
Hon. Abdoulie Ceesay
MP (The Gambia)
Dip. Jorge Cálix
(Honduras)
Hon. Millie Odhiambo
MP (Kenya)
Hon. Kula Segaran
MP (Malaysia)
Hon. Juliet Kavetuna
MP (Namibia)
Hon. Bamidele Salam
MP (Nigeria)
Sen. Sherry Rehman
(Pakistan)
Hon. Raul Cardoso
MP (São Tomé and Príncipe)
Hon. Patrick Kensenhuis
MP (Suriname)
Hon. Jasson Rweikiza
MP (Tanzania)
Sen. Wade Mark
(Trinidad and Tobago)
Hon. Fox Odoi-Oywelowo
MP (Uganda)
Dr. Galyna Mykhailiuk
MP (Ukraine)
Lord Jeremy Purvis of Tweed
United Kingdom
Secretariat
PGA’s Secretariat is the operational body of the organization. It is responsible for the management and execution of the campaigns and provides technical and legal assistance to all PGA members. Its Headquarters is in New York, United States. The Secretariat also has an office in The Hague, the Netherlands.
Ms. Mónica Adame |
Ms. Jennifer McCarthy |
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Ms. Tiffany Ommundsen |
Mr. Charles Rubin |
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Mr. Florian Delsert |
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Democracy, Gender, and Inclusion Program
Ms. Melissa Verpile |
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International Law and Human Rights Program
Ms. Frederika Schweighoferova |
Ms. Olivia Houssais |
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Ms. Fiona Servaes |
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Human Rights and Environment Program
Ms. Faatimah Saarah Monawvil |
Ms. Ana Filipa Vilalva Repas |
International Peace and Security Program
Mr. Peter Barcroft |
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PGA UN Advisory Committee
PGA’s United Nations (UN) Advisory Committee comprises Permanent Representatives and Ambassadors to the UN and senior UN officials. PGA uses this forum to update members of the UN system on the results and plans of its campaigns and discuss the role of parliamentarians in supporting and implementing the UN agenda at the national level, considering, in particular, the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) 2030, and challenges to international peace & security and to principles and norms of international law.
H.E. Mr. Christian Wenaweser
Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
Permanent Representative of Liechtenstein
H.E. Mr. Alexander Marschik
Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
Permanent Mission of Austria
President of the Economic and Social Council
H.E. Mr. Rodrigo A. Carazo
Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Permanent Mission of Costa Rica
H.E. Mr. Ivan Šimonović
Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Permanent Mission of Croatia
H.E. Mr. Martin Bille Hermann
Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
Permanent Mission of Denmark
H.E. Mr. Olof Skoog
Head of the European Union Delegation to the United Nations
Permanent Mission of the European Union
H.E.Mr. Harold Adlai Agyeman
Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
Permanent Mission of Ghana
H.E. Mr. Cho Tae-yul
Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Permanent Mission of the Republic of Korea
H.E. Mr. Olivier Maes
Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Permanent Mission of Luxembourg
H.E. Ms. Pascale Christine Baeriswyl
Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Permanent Mission of Switzerland
H.E. Mr. Sergiy Kyslytsya
Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Permanent Mission of Ukraine
Mr. Adama Dieng
UN Secretariat and Agencies
UN Expert on Human Rights in the Sudan; Former Under Secretary-General and Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide
Pro Bono Legal Support
Mr. Paul Deloo |
Mr. Martin Domb |