«We all have within us a centre of stillness surrounded by silence. This house (United Nations), dedicated to work and debate in the service of peace, should have one room dedicated to silence in the outward sense and stillness in the inner sense. It has been the aim to create in this small room a place where the doors may open to the infinite lands of thought and prayer.»

Dag Hammerskjold Former United Nations Secretary General

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H.E. Adama Dieng, is the new President of Honorary Committee of the International Association for the Defense of Religious Liberty – Association international pour la defense de la liberte religieuse (AIDLR) from Bern Switzerland.



Brussels, May 2018

Since May 2018, H.E. ADAMA DIENG, Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations and Special Adviser to the United Nations Secretary-General on the Prevention of Genocide, is the new AIDLR Honorary Committee President. He succeeds Ms. Mary ROBINSON who has been the last President of the Honorary Committee of the AIDLR since 2002.

Adama Dieng´s Biography:

On 17 July 2012, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon announced the appointment of ADAMA DIENG of Senegal as Under-Secretary-General and Special Adviser of the United Nations Secretary General on the Prevention of Genocide. H.E. Antonio GUTERRES, the UN Secretary General who took office on January 2017 reconfirmed Adama Dieng and expressed his will on continuing Mr. Dieng as the United Nations Under-Secretary-General and Secretary General Special Adviser on Prevention of Genocide.

On July 2017, H.E. Antonio Guterres UN Secretary General launched at the UN Headquarters in New York the ‘Plan of Action for Religious Leaders and Actors to Prevent Incitement to Violence that Could Lead to Atrocity Crimes’, that is a strategic and global project initiated and developed during years by Mr. Adama Dieng.

Before his appointment as United Nations Under-Secretary-General, Mr. Dieng has served as Registrar of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda since 2001.

He began his career as Registrar of the Regional and Labour Courts in Senegal, and served as Registrar of the Supreme Court of Senegal for six years. Mr. Dieng worked for the International Commission of Jurists, and as its Secretary-General.

He was appointed as Envoy of the United Nations Secretary General to Malawi in 1993, and as the United Nations Independent Expert for Haiti from 1995 to 2000.

A legal and human rights expert, Mr. Dieng has throughout his career contributed to strengthening of the rule of law, fighting impunity and promoting capacity building of judicial and democratic institutions. He has also contributed to the establishment of several non-governmental organizations in Africa and to strengthening African institutions. Mr. Dieng was the driving force behind the establishment of the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights as well as the draft African Union Convention on Preventing and Combating Corruption.

Mr. Dieng has lectured on international law and human rights at academic institutions around the world and acted as consultant for many organizations, including the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the Ford Foundation and the African Union. Adama Dieng co-organized with Liviu Olteanu the AIDLR Secretary General, the I Global Summit on Religion, Peace and Security held at Palais des Nations in Geneve on November 2016.

Photos and complementary documents:

Adama DIENG

New President of the Honorary Committee of AIDLR

Adama DIENG

Acceptance letter of the charge of President of the AIDLR'S HC.