Ashraf Swelam

Ashraf Swelam is an Egyptian senior diplomat with more than 25 years of experience. He currently serves as an Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs for African Organizations and Communities. He concurrently serves as the Personal Representative of the President of the Arab Republic of Egypt to the African Union Development Agency (AUDA-NEPAD), Chairman of AUDA-NEPAD Steering Committee, and Egypt's Focal Point to the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM). 

 

Before assuming his current roles, Swelam served as the Ambassador of Egypt to the Republic of Uganda (2020-22), and as the Director General of the Cairo International Center for Conflict Resolution, Peacekeeping and Peacebuilding (CCCPA) (2013-2020). He is the Founder of the Aswan Forum for Sustainable Peace and Development, and the former President of both the International Association of Peacekeeping Training Centers (IAPTC) (2017-2018) and the African Peace Support Trainers Association (APSTA). He was also the former co-Chairman of the Integrated Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration Training Group (IDDRTG) (2017-2019).

On leave from the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs from 2008-2013, Ashraf served as the Lead Counsel to the Constitutional Committee (the Committee of 50) that drafted the Egyptian Constitution. He was a Senior Policy Advisor to one of the leading presidential candidates (2011-12), and the editor and lead author of his presidential platform. He also held senior leadership positions with business NGOs in Egypt, including Senior Advisor to the Chairman of the Egyptian National Competitiveness Council (2012) and Director General of Egypt’s International Economic Forum (2009-2011).