Leadership
Welcome to know our leadership, where our journey unfolds with a shared commitment to empowering communities. Let’s embark on this collective mission together.”
Dr. HENRY LEONARD MAC DONALD
President of World Development Foundation
Ambassador and Former Permanent Representative to the United Nations
The World Development Foundation brings together and supports Governments, United Nations, Civil Society, Academic Communities, Corporations, and Private Investors throughout the world toward global sustainable development – with respect for and in hopes of achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.
In October 2017, Dr. Mac Donald was named President, World Development Foundation (a USA based Section 501C3 Not-for-Profit Tax-Exempt Organization), in order to synchronize his passion and theoretical, as well practical knowledge about the implementation of the Sustainable Development by concentrating strongly on SGD -17.
The Mission Statement of the World Development Foundation is as follows: “To be able to bring a definite end to poverty in the world we must find a way to support and implement PUBLIC PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS in the best way possible”.
Ambassador Mac Donald was born in Suriname and received his legal education at the Law Faculty of the Anton de Kom University in Paramaribo, (1994) and at the American University in Washington DC, where he obtained an additional Masters of Law in “Law and Government” at the Washington College of Law (2003). He acquired Post-Doctoral honors from the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR), the International Labor Organization (ILO), the Universities of Utrecht and Amsterdam in the Netherlands, and the Catholic University of Leuven in Belgium.
Dr. Henry Mac Donald received an Honorary Degree in Doctorate for Philosophy in Humanities and the Golden Rule International Award or his international work on gender equality and women’s empowerment at the United Nations.
Former Ambassador Mac Donald has been a guest Professor at various Universities and Colleges in the United States and is one of the few scholars who publishes frequently in English in the Surinamese Law Journal.
Ambassador Mac Donald was a senior legal advisor on human rights topics and a principal speech writer for his Government on development, legal and diplomatic matters. He represented Suriname as its Principal Expert before all Human Rights Treaty Bodies at the United Nations (e.g. the Universal Periodic Review (2011); the UN Committee Regarding the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (2009 and 2015); the UN Committee for the Rights of the Child (2007); the UN Committee against the Discrimination of Women (2002), and at the Organization of American States such as at the Moiwana hearings before the Inter American Commission on Human Rights (2003) and the Inter American Court of Justice in 2004.
Since his first arrival at the United Nations ten years ago, he served on several occasions as Chairperson of the CARICOM Caucus of Ambassadors to the United Nations and as Chair of the GRULAC Regional Grouping.
Ted Talk from our President
Mac Donald ’s interview with Bill Miller
He was a Vice President of the 65th General Assembly, in which capacity he served on numerous occasions as Acting President.
He was also very instrumental in having the two only Surinamese Human Rights Experts being elected in respectively the Human Rights Committee (2010 & 2014) and the ECOSOC Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (2012).
He was the Chairperson of the Social, Humanitarian and Cultural Committee, generally referred to as the Third Committee for the 67th Session of the United Nations General Assembly.
On November, 2012, he orchestrated a unique combined Second and Third Committee Event on Communication for Development at the United Nations.
Ambassador Mac Donald was the HEforSHE Spokesperson at the United Nations and spoke about this matter all over the world.
He was the driving force behind the Barbershop Conferences at the United Nations in January 2015 and 2017. These gatherings were organized Suriname and Iceland to invite Men in joining Women in their struggle to STOP Violence against Women and Girls all over the world.
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