Biographical Note

New Permanent Representative of Jordan Presents Credentials

 

(Based on information provided by the Protocol and Liaison Service.)

The new Permanent Representative of Jordan to the United Nations, Prince Zeid Ra’ad Zeid Al-Hussein, presented his credentials today to United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

For the past three years, he served as Jordan’s Ambassador to the United States and non-resident Ambassador to Mexico.  From 2000-2007, Prince Zeid was also the Permanent Representative at the United Nations.

Knowledgeable in matters of international justice, Prince Zeid played a central role in the establishment of the International Criminal Court.  For example, over the course of two years, he chaired the complex negotiations on the elements of individual offences under the crimes of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes.

In September 2002, Prince Zeid was elected the first president of the governing body of the International Criminal Court at a time when the court was only a plan on paper.  In addition, he was the first of two United Nations Ambassadors to chair the Ad Hoc Committee on the Scope of Legal Protection under the Convention on the Safety of the United Nations and Associated Personnel.  In 2004, he was also appointed by his Government as Jordan’s representative and head of delegation before the International Court of Justice in the matter related to the wall built by Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.

Prince Zeid has served as a political affairs officer in the United Nations Protection Force (UNPROFOR) in the former Yugoslavia from February 1994-1996, and has worked on peacekeeping issues intimately over the past 16 years.

He holds a bachelor’s degree from Johns Hopkins University, and a Ph.D. from Christ’s College at Cambridge University.  He is a member of the Advisory Committee to the Institute for Historical Justice and Reconciliation, and is a member of the World Bank’s Advisory Council for the World Development Report 2011.

He is married to Princess Sarah Zeid, and has two daughters and a son.

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For information media • not an official record