Dr. Rima Salah provides a Palestinian Christian woman’s perspective on the past, present, and future of women’s empowerment, peace-building, and striving for justice and dignity in the Holy Land.
Dr. Rima Salah
Dr. Rima Salah, Ph.D., served as a Member of the United Nations High-Level Independent Panel on Peace Operations and as the Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General, U.N. Mission in the Central African Republic and Chad. In addition, Dr. Salah has had a distinguished career with UNICEF. Her service includes: Deputy Executive Director for UNICEF (2004-2007, 2011-2012), Regional Director for West and Central Africa (1999-2004). As a highly effective advocate for the rights of children and women in armed conflict and post-conflict situations, she contributed to Security Council Resolution 1612 on child rights violations and Security Council resolution 1325 Women, Peace, and Security. Dr. Salah has received many awards of distinction from several non-governmental organizations and U.N. Member States, including the French Legion of Honor. In October 2015, Dr. Salah was elected to Chair the newly formed Early Childhood Peace Consortium.
The Rev. Drew Christiansen S.J. served as director of the Office of International Justice and Peace of the U.S. Catholic Conference (now the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops) and editor-in-chief of the Jesuit weekly America. He taught at the Jesuit School of Theology/Graduate Theological Union-Berkeley and the University of Notre Dame, where he was a member of the founding team of the Kroc Institute of International Peace Studies. He was also a frequent consultant to the Holy See and a member of the steering committee of the Catholic Peacebuilding Network. When he passed away in the Spring of 2022, Fr. Drew left behind a legacy of applying Catholic Social Teaching to peacebuilding specifically in the Holy Land. This lecture carries forth Fr. Christiansen's enduring spirit. It is co-sponsored by the Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies, the Liu Institute for Asia and Asian Studies, the Catholic Peacebuilding Network, and Churches for Middle East Peace.
