Amb. (ret.) Dr. Omar Rifai

Amb. Dr. Omar Rifai is a Co-Founder of Diplomeds – The Council for Mediterranean Diplomacy, an Advisor to HRH Prince El-Hassan Ibn Talal of Jordan, and the former Director-General of the WANA Institute in Amman. He previously was the Director of the Arab Affairs Unit and the Representative of the Commissioner-General at the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) in Jordan. Prior to that, he was Secretary-General of the Jordanian Foreign Ministry, President of the Jordan Institute of Diplomacy, and the first Executive Director of the West Asia-North Africa (WANA) Forum. He served in the Jordanian Diplomatic Service, was stationed at missions in Cairo, Bern, New York, London and Washington, and headed Jordan’s diplomatic missions in Israel, Italy and Egypt. He also held the positions of Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process and Director of the Special Bureau at the Foreign Ministry in Amman. He was notably a member of the Jordanian delegation to the Jordan-Israel peace talks in 1994 and Jordan’s Permanent Representative to the Arab League in Cairo. Besides, he was a part-time lecturer in Political Science and International Relations at various universities in Jordan. He holds several Jordanian and foreign decorations and is presently a Member of the Board of Trustees of the United Nations Crime and Justice Institute (UNICRI), the Academic Board of the NATO Defense College, and the WANA Institute in Amman.