Sélim el Sayegh, Ph.D.
Sélim el Sayegh, Ph.D., is a globally renowned educator and an accomplished former governmental leader of Lebanon.
He is currently director of the Center for the Analysis of Disputes and their Modes of Settlement (CADMOS) and director of the Master’s Program in Diplomacy & Strategic Negotiations at the University of Paris, where he has been a Professor of Law and International Relations since 1993. He is also the co-founder and vice-president of the American Graduate School of Diplomacy and International Relations in Paris. He has served as a visiting professor at 25 universities around the world, mostly in China, Asia, Europe, North America, and North Africa. His main area of specialization is conflict resolution, negotiation, diplomacy, and development.
Dr. el Sayegh was the Minister of Social Affairs in Lebanon from 2009 to 2011, serving under the Hariri Government. In this role he developed policies and strategies that greatly expanded and enriched the social sector in Lebanon. He led the development of the Social Pact and the National Strategy for Social Development in Lebanon; oversaw the implementation of Good Governance Standards for NGOs; created the first Middle Eastern Master’s Degree of NGO Management; established the National Documentation Center for Childhood; launched the “Child Friendly Cities Initiative” in three pilot municipalities; and developed standards for elderly caretaking centers. He also established the National Poverty Targeting Program, the National Program Against Addiction, and published the “Nahar al Kafif,” the first braille language weekly paper in the Arab World.
Dr. el Sayegh currently serves as Senior Adviser for the UNESCO Program on Intercultural Dialogue and has been on the board of the World Bank for Social Policies in the Middle East and North Africa region (MENA) since 2012. He has received many international academic professional awards and appointments and is the author of numerous publications in French, English, and Arabic.
Dr. el Sayegh received his Ph.D. in International Law from Paris University in 1992. He also received a DEA (M. Phil) in History from the Sorbonne University (Paris I) and in Diplomacy and International Relations from Paris-Sud University in 1990 and 1989, respectively, as well as Bachelor’s degrees in Political Science, Law, and Business Management at Lebanese universities.