The Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue (HD) is pleased to announce that the former International President of Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), Dr Joanne Liu, as well as Indonesian senior scholar and political analyst, Prof Dewi Fortuna Anwar, have agreed to join its Foundation Board.
Both bring with them significant expertise in their respective fields which include the needs of refugees and civilians caught up in conflict, as well as Asian political and security issues.
Dr Joanne Liu has served as International President of Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) from 2013 to 2019. At the helm of MSF, she has been a leading voice on medical humanitarian crises, namely in Ebola outbreak of West Africa, attacks on hospitals and forced displacement crisis.
Dr Liu’s role builds on a career of fieldwork with MSF, including over 20 medical-humanitarian field assignments.
She trained at McGill University School of Medicine, and holds a Fellowship in Paediatric Emergency Medicine, as well as a Master’s in Health Leadership.
Dr Liu’s operational work has ranged from introducing comprehensive care for survivors of sexual violence, to developing a telemedicine platform for connecting doctors in rural areas with specialists worldwide.
Dr Liu remains a practicing doctor, both in the field with MSF and also through hospital shifts in her home town of Montreal. She believes strongly in MSF’s unique ability to operate in the field whilst delivering high-quality, patient-centred care.
Prof Dewi Fortuna Anwar is a Research Professor at the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) where she also held the position of Deputy Chairman for Social Sciences and Humanities from 2001 to 2010.
A member of the Indonesian Academy of Sciences, Prof Anwar is also the Vice Chair of The Habibie Center (THC) in Jakarta, after having served as Chair for THC’s Institute of Democracy and Human Rights.
Between 2010 and 2017, Prof Fortuna Anwar served as Deputy Secretary for Political Affairs to Indonesian Vice President Boediono, and then as Deputy for Government Policy Support to Indonesian Vice President Jusuf Kalla.
From 1998 to 1999, she also held the positions of Assistant to the Vice President for Global Affairs/International Relations and Assistant Minister/State Secretary for Foreign Affairs during the Habibie presidency.
Prof Anwar sits on the Boards of several organisations including the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, the Center for Information and Development Studies in Jakarta as well as the organisation Shift and the Asia Society which are both based in New York.
Prof Anwar obtained a BA and MA from the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London and a PhD in Politics from Monash University in Australia.
“We are honoured by Dr Liu and Prof Fortuna Anwar’s decision to join HD’s Board. Both are recognised specialists in their respective fields,” said Espen Barth Eide, Chair of HD’s Foundation Board.
“The extent of their experience covering a broad spectrum of issues which closely relate to HD’s niche activity will be valuable in strengthening our Board’s expertise and the organisation more broadly as it continues to navigate today’s increasingly unstable and complex international conflict landscape.”