Jordanian Business-Woman as First Arab President of a Justice Organization in The Hague, Netherlands

On 29 January 2019 at Nieuwspoort, at the Dutch parliamentary building, Lady Sohair A. Salam Saber was announced as the President of The Hague Institute for Global Justice.

On 29 January 2019 at Nieuwspoort, at the Dutch parliamentary building, Lady Sohair A. Salam Saber was announced as the President of The Hague Institute for Global Justice.

The Hague Institute for Global Justice was founded on 10 June 2010 at a festive opening of the Institute that took place in the Ridderzaal (the 13th century building for the state opening of Parliament) in the presence of many national and international guests, including the Dutch Minister of Economic Affairs.

The Institute was founded by the Dutch Government with an investment of almost €20 million and included involvement of The Hague city council, the city’s Mayor at the time Jozias van Aartsen, and former US secretary of state, Madeleine Albright.

The Institute was founded to strengthen the fields of peace, justice, development and public safety, and has worked on a range of projects in different areas provides analyses and recommendations to policymakers, practitioners and local stakeholders around the world.

Lady Sohair A. Salam Saber has worked with governments from North America to Africa, and from the Middle East to East Asia for over twenty years on issues such as public policy, innovation and development.

Speaking at her inauguration, Salam stated that “'The Netherlands is the only country in the world that has laid down promotion of the international legal order in the Constitution.”

Projects include working with the United Nations on Business and Human Rights Arbitration, working with the International Criminal Court on the Peace-Justice Nexus, working with the World Bank on Political Economy Analysis of Transboundary Basins in Africa, and many more.

Acting as Vice-President of The Institute will be Harvard graduate Mahmoud Abuwasel. Abuwasel is a co-founding Partner at Bin Nakhira & Partners and has advised governments on convention drafting and ratification of treaties, international conflict resolution, and policy and legislative drafting.

Abuwasel stated that The Institute holds an unequivocal bank of knowledge, partners, and access to experts that States and State leaders across the world will benefit from, and that The Institute will be The Hague’s gateway to the world transferring the unprecedent knowledge and principles of The Institute and the establishments in The Hague, such as the Peace Palace, the International Courts, and NGOs and other foundations in The Hague.