That same year Foreign Policy magazine named him Diplomat of the Year.
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Recognized as a leading defender of universal human rights, Al Hussein was given the Stockholm Human Rights Award in 2015 and the Human Rights Tulip prize in 2018. He stepped down from his position in September 2018, saying that the current geopolitical climate had made it challenging to do the job with independence and integrity.ĭuring his career at the United Nations, Al Hussein also served as president of the Security Council and in 2002 was elected the first president of the International Criminal Court's governing body, where he guided the court's growth in its first three years. In a 2016 speech at The Hague, Al Hussein shocked those in attendance when he called out the silence of world leaders-by name-in the face of atrocities and human rights violations, and warned against populists and demagogues in Europe and the United States. During a tenure that saw flagrant human rights abuses in Syria, Myanmar, and elsewhere, he earned a reputation for being courageous and outspoken. He found his way to the United Nations almost by accident, and then worked his way up to the highest rungs of the ladder.Īl Hussein, a former Jordanian diplomat, served as his home country's ambassador to the United States and the United Nations (on two occasions), before being selected as the U.N.'s sixth high commissioner for human rights, a post he occupied from 2014 to 2018. He's Jordanian and married a woman from Texas, born to British parents. He was born into royalty-the son of Prince Ra'ad of the Hashemite House, the ruling royal family of Jordan-but he'd rather you just call him Zeid and eschew formality.
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He's a career diplomat who often tramples the protocols of diplomacy. He's a Muslim and supporter of LGBTQ rights. As someone who has witnessed the aftermath of genocide and feels the world is set on an authoritarian trajectory in which human rights are increasingly fragile, you might think he'd be more sullen.īut at nearly every step of his life, Al Hussein, A&S '87, has defied convention. Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein smiles and laughs a lot.