Hesham Youssef

Ambassador Hesham Youssef is a Senior Advisor at the European Institute of Peace, having previously served as a Senior Fellow and Advisor at the United States Institute of Peace from 2019 to April 2025. A career diplomat with Egypt’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Youssef has extensive experience in regional diplomacy and conflict resolution.

From 2014 to 2019, he served as Assistant Secretary General for Humanitarian, Cultural and Social Affairs of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC). Prior to this, Youssef held senior positions at the Arab League from 2001 to 2014, serving as Official Spokesman and later Chief of Staff to Secretary General Amr Moussa from 2003 to 2011. From 2012 to 2014, he was Senior Advisor to Secretary General of the Arab League, Dr Nabil Elaraby, on crisis management and Arab League reform.

Youssef has worked extensively on conflict resolution in the Middle East, particularly the Arab-Israeli conflict, reconciliation in Iraq, and other regional conflicts. He has authored several papers on conflicts and developments in the Middle East. He is a member of the Expert Advisory Group for IFIT’s Peace Treaty Initiative.