Ms Ibtehal Khreesha is Deputy Permanent Representative of Jordan to the UN Rome-based Agencies and Agricultural Attaché at the Embassy of Jordan in Rome. She chairs the International Steering Committee for the International Year of the Woman Farmer 2026 and serves as a member of the CFS Bureau and FAO Programme Committee. She previously held senior leadership positions at Jordan’s Ministry of Agriculture and has extensive experience in agricultural policy, livestock development and food security.

Harry is International Development and SDG Lead at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine.  He is National Secretary to the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation and leads on Ireland’s engagement with the UN World Food Programme.  He also leads on the Africa Agrifood Development Programme for the Department. 

Harry graduated from University College Dublin and holds an Advanced Diploma in Public Procurement Law from The Honorable Society of King's Inns.  He is currently undertaking a PhD in Agricultural Policy and Climate Change Policy at University College Dublin. 

Harry is a passionate advocate for equality and the advancement of women and youth in agriculture.  He is especially proud to bring youth delegates from Ireland and the Global South to the World Food Forum in Rome and launched a National Youth Food Forum in Ireland in March 2024. 

Gloria Reyes Gómez is a Dominican lawyer and politician with extensive experience in public service. She currently serves as Minister of Women of the Dominican Republic and previously served as Executive Director of Supérate, the country’s flagship social protection programme. She also served as President of the Council of Women Ministers of Central America and the Dominican Republic (COMMCA). Her work has focused on social protection, women's economic empowerment, equal opportunities, and institutional strengthening.

The Honourable Gita Chaudhary is Nepal’s Minister for Agriculture, Forests and Environment, appointed in March 2026, and a Member of the House of Representatives. A member of Nepal’s Indigenous Tharu community, she holds an LLB in Criminal Law from Kathmandu School of Law, Purbanchal University, and an LLM in Criminal and Commercial Law from Nepal Law Campus, Tribhuvan University. Prior to entering government, she worked as a lawyer, legal lecturer and human rights advocate, focusing on labour rights, access to justice, and the rights of marginalized communities. She also served as Executive Director of Saath Nepal, working on human rights and migrant workers’ rights, and held leadership positions in youth advocacy, including on the National Youth Council’s board. Her professional background reflects a commitment to human rights, youth participation and social inclusion, reinforcing the importance of ensuring the meaningful participation and representation of women farmers, Indigenous Peoples and other vulnerable groups in decisions shaping Nepal’s agrifood systems transformation.

H.E. Mbarouk Nassor Mbarouk, is the Ambassador of the United Republic of Tanzania to the Republic of Italy and Permanent Representative to the United Nations Rome-based Agencies: FAO, IFAD, and WFP. Ambassador Mbarouk, is also accredited to seven Balkan countries: Albania, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, North Macedonia, Malta, and Montenegro.

Aasha Ramesh represents the Women's constituency of the Civil Society and Indigenous Peoples' Mechanism (CSIPM) as part of the Asian Rural Women's Coalition (ARWC). She is one of the coordinators of the CSIPM Women and Gender Diversities Working Group, where she brings the voices and demands of rural women in Asia to the UN Committee on World Food Security. A Gender and Development expert based in India, she has spent more than four decades working on women's rights and political participation.

Mary Boote serves as Chief Executive Officer of the Global Farmer Network and Chair of the International Agrifood Network.  Raised on a Northwest Iowa dairy, pork, corn and soybean family farm, she had the privilege of serving as agriculture adviser to Iowa Governor Terry E. Branstad from 1997-1999. Named as one of the Worldview 100:  Global  Industry’s top 100 Visionaries and Leaders in Biotechnology by Scientific American Worldview in 2015, Mary has had the opportunity to travel internationally on several agriculture leadership missions that focused on issues as varied as instruction on strategic planning and personal representation for privatized agriculturalists in newly independent countries to learning more about smallholder maize projects to observing the trade negotiation process at the World Trade Organization.

Professor Aisha Bu Shlaibi distinguished academic with over 20 years of experience in higher education, specializing in Agriculture, Nutrition, Food Safety, Food Microbiology, and Food Law. Promoted to Associate Professor in 2013 at the United Arab Emirates University, College of Agricultural Sciences, and to Full Professor of Food Science in 2024 at the University of Sharjah, UAE.

Currently serving as Chancellor of the University of Al Dhaid, where she provides visionary leadership to advance academic excellence, drive institutional growth, and foster innovation. Her career spans prestigious roles, including Executive Director and Dean, where she successfully led strategic initiatives, developed interdisciplinary research programs, and empowered students and faculty to achieve exceptional results.

A forward-thinking leader with a proven track record in research and academic administration, she is dedicated to shaping the future of higher education, building impactful partnerships, and contributing to global academic advancement.

Tacko Ndiaye is Senior Gender Officer and Team Leader at the Rural Transformation and Gender Equality Division of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). She coordinates a multidisciplinary team that oversees and supports the implementation of normative, technical and programmatic work, and provides strategic leadership to initiatives related to the celebration of the 2026 International Year of the Woman Farmer. Over the last 30 years, she has been mainstreaming gender and social inclusion in policies, programmes, institutions, statistics and investment plans, focusing on the agrifood sector.

With over 18 year’s professional experience, she previously held global leadership roles with Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors, Practical Action, UN Women and Women for Women International. She led programmes focused on women's economic empowerment, financial inclusion, inclusive trade, sustainable energy access and climate-resilient agriculture. 

Maina has a Master of Arts Degree in Gender and Development from the University of Nairobi and a Master of Science Degree in Organizational Development from the United States International University - Africa. She is undertaking a PhD in Gender and Public Policy at the University of Nairobi. 

Laura has worked with the United Nations for 25 years across roles in operations, risk management, partnerships, performance planning, reporting, and monitoring.

She most recently served in the Multilateral and Programme Country Partnerships Division. Previously, she was Head of Emergency Coordination, led the WFP Gaza emergency operation, and served in multiple duty stations including Kosovo, Republic of Congo, Iraq, Sudan, Somalia, Geneva, New York, Rome, and Washington D.C. Her inter-agency experience includes time with UNHCR, UNDP, and OCHA. Laura is currently pursuing a doctorate degree and also holds degrees in environmental science and chemistry

Dr. Jemimah Njuki, a national of the Republic of Kenya, is the African Development Bank Group’s Director for Gender, Women, and Civil Society. She is responsible for providing intellectual and strategic leadership for the Bank Group’s agenda on gender equality, women’s empowerment, and civil society engagement - working across technical, geographic, and institutional boundaries to support the delivery of inclusive development solutions. 

Dr. Njuki’s portfolio includes overseeing the implementation of economic and sector work on gender, women and civil society, including Bank initiatives such as AFAWA, which is working with partners including financial institutions to unlock billions of dollars to reduce the access to financing gap facing Africa’s women entrepreneurs. 

She has more than two decades of experience spanning gender in agriculture and food systems, climate change and energy, finance, and infrastructure development, as well as advancing gender mainstreaming across multiple sectors. Prior to joining the Bank, Dr. Njuki served as Chief of Economic Empowerment at UN Women, where her oversight included the organization’s global work on women and the world of work, transforming care systems, gender-responsive climate action, gender-responsive macroeconomics, as well as financing for gender equality. 

Born 1978, Krisztina Bende took over the Permanent Representation of Switzerland to the United Nations Organizations in Rome in September 2023.

She started her career at the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs in 2003, where she worked on environmental issues in the Policy Directorate. She then worked as a case lawyer at the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in Strasbourg. In 2005, Krisztina Bende joined the Federal Office for Agriculture (FOAG) to work on international trade issues related to agriculture.

She was Member of the Swiss delegation to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and chaired the Joint Committee on Agriculture between Switzerland and the European Union. Together with the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), it also oversaw the revision of the Food Aid Convention within the International Grains Council.

Before her current posting, Krisztina Bende was the Director of the Trade Relations Division at the European Free Trade Association in Geneva, overseeing trade negotiations with non-EU countries. Ambassador Bende holds a Law degree from the University of Berne and a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from IE Madrid and Brown Providence USA.

Lynn Schneider is a Senior Program Officer for Women's Empowerment in Agricultural Development at the Gates Foundation. Prior to joining the foundation in 2025, she spent 14+ years at USAID, including field roles in agriculture and food security in Nepal, Haiti, Malawi, and South Africa and headquarters roles in agricultural market systems and gender equality.

Katarina Wolf, 32, has served as Chair of LRF Ungdomen (The Federation of Young Farmers in Sweden) since 2024. She lives and works on a dairy farm in the south of Sweden, which she runs together with her two brothers, and she also manages her own forestry estate.

With a strong commitment to strengthening the position of the next generation of farmers, Katarina is dedicated to improving conditions for young people in the agricultural- and forestry sectors. Her leadership focuses on advancing profitability, enhancing the attractiveness of the industry, and ensuring fair and competitive conditions for young entrepreneurs entering Swedish agriculture.