Taah Abongnelaa, Divine Fuh, from Mankanikong in Bafut, Cameroon, is the Director of HUMA – Institute for Humanities in Africa at the University of Cape Town where he is associate professor and Head of the Department of Anthropology. He is trained in Cameroon, Botswana and Switzerland. His research focuses on the politics of suffering and smiling, particularly on how people seek ways of smiling in the midst of their suffering. He has done work in Cameroon, Botswana, Senegal and South Africa. His currently interested in the life of ideas, the political economy of African knowledge production, and centring African epistemologies.
Sylvie Namwase is a lecturer of human rights and international law at the School of Law, Makerere University under the Department of Law and Jurisprudence. She is also a researcher at the Human Rights and Peace Centre (HURIPEC) School of Law, Makerere University, where she currently superintends as the local principal investigator on a DANIDA funded project titled: “Charcoal Conflict in Climate Change’s Decarbonisation Dilemmas: Knots of Livelihood, Nutrition, Communities, Gender, Migration and Energy in East Africa”.
Ole Wæver is the Director of the Centre for Resolution of International Conflicts in the Department of Political Science at the University of Copenhagen. He is a professor of international relations and has published extensively in that field. He is one of the main architects of the so-called Copenhagen School in International Relations, having coined 35 years ago the concept of ‘securitization’. He is the Principal Investigator on a DANIDA funded project titled: “Charcoal Conflict in Climate Change’s Decarbonisation Dilemmas: Knots of Livelihood, Nutrition, Communities, Gender, Migration and Energy in East Africa”.
Tove Degnbol is Head of the Evaluation, Learning & Quality department in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark. From 2015 to 2020, she was Ambassador of Denmark to Ghana. Tove Degnbol has more than 30 years of experience in the field of international development. In addition to Ghana, she has had long-term positions in Tanzania, Vietnam, and Mali. Over the course of her carrier, Tove Degnbol has held several positions in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark, incl. at the Embassy of Denmark in Hanoi. Before joining the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, she worked several years as an international consultant and development researcher focussing on agriculture, pastoral development, and good governance. She holds a phd in International Development from Roskilde University.
Dr Lavern Samuels is a global leader in international higher education, recognized for his work in inclusive internationalization and virtual exchange. He is Director at Durban University of Technology, chairs several international education bodies, and has received major awards, including the 2024 BMI Global Education/Times Higher Education Lifetime Achievement award.
Birgitte Nygaard Markussen, Ambassador, Danish Special Representative for the Great Lakes and the Sahel. Previously EU Ambassador to the African Union, Deputy Managing Director for Africa in the European External Action Service. Served as Danish Ambassador, Danish Humanitarian Director and Danish Africa Director.
Odirilwe Selomane is a sustainability scientist and senior lecturer at the University of Pretoria. His research spans food systems, sustainability metrics, and nature finance. He contributed to IPBES assessments, including the Global and Nexus Assessments
