He is a consultant to many national and international organizations, among them UNESCO, UNDP, ESCWA, & UNIDO as well as British Council, Commonwealth Science Council and ISESCO. founder member of ASTF, over his vast career Prof Sayigh established and directed a multitude of Renewable Energy Conferences and Workshops in ICTP across the world. This includes the World Renewable Energy Congress and in 1992 the Network (WREN) who have their Congresses every two years, attracting more than 100 countries each time. A professor at the University of Hertfordshire Sayigh is a graduate of London University, & Imperial College (B.SC. DIC, Ph.D., CEng in 1966),he has taught at Baghdad University- College of Engineering, Saudi Arabia's King Saud University- College of Engineering and Kuwait University as part time professor. He also headed the Energy Department at the Kuwaiti Institute for Scientific Research (KISR) and he is an Expert on renewable energy at AOPEC. Prof Sayigh is a Fellow of the Institute of Energy, and Fellow of the Institution of Electrical Engineers, Chartered Engineer. He has edited, contributed to, and written more than 20-books, and 300-papers in various international journals and Conferences.

 

He was re-elected in 2014 and served as a member of Iraqi Parliament till 2018. Al-Janabi also served as a member of The National Assembly (2005-2006) where he served as Chairman of the Finance Committee and Vice-Chairman of the Constitution Drafting Committee. In 2006, he presided over the Iraq Centre for Research.

He held various high-level positions within the finance and energy sectors since 1965 where he was in charge of Iraq's relations with the World Bank and IMF in the Central Bank of Iraq. He started his career as an Economist at Iraq's National Oil Company where in the 1970s he headed crude oil marketing. Al-Janabi was a founder of Iraq's State Oil Marketing Company (SOMO). In 1976, he became Head of Economics and Finance Department at the Organisation of Oil Exporting Countries (OPEC). His experience in consulting and the private sector covers almost 20 years where he led a number of oil trading companies as chief executive officer.

His publications include The Rentier State and dictatorship (2013, in Arabic), The Need For Cooperation Between Producers & Consumers (2013) and Getting Rid of the Rentier State (2016, in Arabic)

Al-Janabi holds a B.Sc. in Economics (Honours) from the University of London and an M.Sc. in Petroleum Technology from Loughborough University.

In 2015, he helped launch Iraq's first open encyclopedia; Iraqipedia.

 

 

He is also Managing Director of the Board of Dana Gas (PJSC), the leading publicly-listed natural gas company in the Middle East, in which Crescent is the largest shareholder. His previous experience was with Shell International’s Exploration & Production and Gas & Power Divisions.

 

In addition to his professional commitments, Majid Jafar currently serves as Chairman of the Middle East-North Africa Business Council and Chairman of the Oil & Gas Independents Community at the World Economic Forum, Co-Chairman of the Business Backs Education campaign launched with the GEMS Foundation, and Vice-Chairman of the Global Energy Initiative (GEI). He is also a Board Member of: the Carnegie Middle East Advisory Council, the Arab Forum for Environment and Development (AFED), the Higher Colleges of Technology (HCT) Industry Advisory Council, and the Iraq Energy Institute, as well as an active member of: the GCC Board Directors Institute, the Royal Institute for International Affairs (Chatham House), the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), the Young Presidents Organization (YPO), the Young Arab Leaders organization (YAL), and an Accredited Director of the Institute of Directors (IoD Mudara).

 

Majid Jafar attended Eton College and graduated from Cambridge University (Churchill College) with Bachelor and Masters Degrees in Engineering (Fluid Mechanics and Thermodynamics). He also holds an MA (with Distinction) in International Studies and Diplomacy from the University of London’s School of Oriental & African Studies (SOAS), and an MBA (with Distinction) from the Harvard Business School.

 

This followed with various positions in the United Nations including Assistant Secretary General /UN, New York and Regional Director for Arab States in UNDP-New York. His work has also seen him as the Director of N/EO Centre-Queen Elizabeth House-Oxford University (1981-1986), and Regional Advisor for Africa CRTC/UN New York (1987-1991). Dr. Al Shaihly holds a B.Sc., M.Sc. and PhD from Manchester University, UK.

 

Prof. Alshawi holds many international advisory posts in various countries and is a consultant on UN Habitat and World Bank projects. He is also the Editor in Chief of the international journal of "Construction Innovation: Information, Process, Management", published by "Emerald", and the author of over a hundred publications in variety of fields including databases, object oriented databases, IT strategies, CAD, planning automation, IS success factors and e-readiness. He has recently published a book to provide a holistic view on the readiness of organizations to successfully embrace IT into their work practices. The title of the book is "Rethinking IT in Construction and Engineering: Organizational readiness. Prof. Alshawi is the founder of five innovative postgraduate courses, in IT and Construction Management, ranging from PG Diploma, MSc, Master of Research and PhD (without residence). He has managed a number of large research projects over his research career funded by (EPSRC, DTI, EU, NWUA and industry). His leading work in management of information in collaborative environments, integrated databases in construction and computer integration are internationally known.

 

Nisar began her career with the KRG in 2005 as the Director of Communications for the KRG-UK representative office, and in 2006 she returned to Kurdistan to help establish the KRG's Department of Foreign Relations and was appointed as the Assistant Director.

Nisar has a Master in Pharmacy from the University of Brighton, UK, and an MA in Diplomacy & International Studies from SOAS, University of London. Her main area of focus is good governance, transparency in the oil and gas sector, health management, and economic and social reforms. She is fluent in English, Arabic, and Kurdish.