Global Preventive Diplomacy Initiative (GPDI) is a strategic effort to advance early action, constructive dialogue, and multilateral cooperation amid growing global instability. Co-chaired by H.E. Ms. María Fernanda Espinosa, President of the 73rd Session of the United Nations General Assembly and former Foreign and Defense Minister of Ecuador, and H.E. Mr. Vuk Jeremić, President of the 67th Session of the United Nations General Assembly and former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Serbia,  this initiative responds to the growing need for new structured and proactive conflict-prevention strategies within the international system.

María Fernanda Espinosa is a distinguished Ecuadorian academic, diplomat, politician, poet, and linguist. With over 30 years of professional experience in academia, nongovernmental organizations, international organizations, and high-level government positions, she is regarded as an expert in global governance, international politics, peace and security, foreign policy, sustainable development, environmental issues, climate change, gender equality, and the rights of Indigenous Peoples.

Ms. Espinosa began her career working closely with Indigenous communities in the Ecuadorian Amazon, advocating for environmental stewardship and sustainable development. She later became the Regional Director for South America at the International Union for the Conservation of Nature. In 2008, Ms. Espinosa became Ecuador’s first female Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York. In this role, she played an active role in establishing UN Women through the System-Wide Coherence process and contributed to the UN’s response to the 2008 financial crisis as part of the Stiglitz Commission.

In 2018, Ms. Espinosa made history as the fourth woman and the first from Latin America and the Caribbean to be elected President of the United Nations General Assembly. She also served Ecuador as Minister of Foreign Affairs on two occasions, as well as Minister of National Defense. Throughout her career in public service, she has led major bilateral and multilateral negotiations on key international issues, establishing herself as a key figure in advancing regional and global cooperation.

Today, Ms. Espinosa continues to shape global agendas through her leadership and advisory roles. She is President of Cities Alliance and Executive Director of Global Women Leaders for Change and Inclusion. She is a member of the Board of Trustees of the International Crisis Group and the Nizami Ganjavi International Center. She co-chairs several global initiatives, including the Climate Governance Commission, the Coalition for the UN We Need, the UN Institute for Training and Research, and the Debt Relief for a Green and Inclusive Recovery. She is also a member of the UN Secretary General’s Advisory Board on Human Security, the High-Level Advisory Council for the UN Alliance of Civilizations, the Leadership Council of the Sustainable Development Solutions Network, the International Commission on the Economics of Water, the Global Council on Inequality, AIDS and Pandemics, among others.

Her achievements have been widely recognized, including the Doctor of Humane Letters, honoris causa from the New School (2025), the Eleanor Roosevelt Award from the United Nations Association of the United States (2022); the Sir Brian Urquhart Award from the UN Association of the United Kingdom for Distinguished Service to the UN (2021); and the 5th Sun Award for her outstanding contribution to advance the agenda of the rights of Indigenous Peoples (2021). In 2019, the BBC named her one of the 100 most inspiring and influential women in the world.

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Vuk Jeremić is the President of the Center for International Relations and Sustainable Development (CIRSD), a global public policy thinktank and a Co-Founder of the Global Preventive Diplomacy Initiative. He is a Professor of Practice at the Sciences Po Paris School of International Affairs and the Editor-in-Chief of the quarterly magazine Horizons – Journal of International Relations and Sustainable Development.

Mr. Jeremić is Senior Advisor to Eurasia Group, world’s leading geopolitical risk analysis firm, providing insights and advice to top international corporations, financial institutions, and governments worldwide.

From 2017 to 2024, Mr. Jeremić served as Senior Advisor to Partners Group, leading global private equity firm based in Switzerland, with USD 147 billion in assets under management.

In 2016, Mr. Jeremić participated in the official election for UN Secretary-General. After six rounds of voting in the UN Security Council, he finished the race in the second place, behind Mr. Antonio Guterres. Prior to the last round of voting, Mr. Jeremić received the endorsement of his candidacy by The Wall Street Journal Editorial Board.

In June 2012, Mr. Jeremić was directly elected by the majority of world’s nations to be the President of the 67th session of the UN General Assembly, in the first contested vote since the end of the Cold War. During his term in office he played a leading role in steering the UN towards the establishment of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Mr. Jeremić served as Serbia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2007 to 2012. In 2007, he chaired the Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers.

Mr. Jeremić has lectured at major universities, think-tanks, and institutes around the world, as well as published opinion pieces in leading outlets including New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Financial Times and Le Monde.

Mr. Jeremić holds a bachelor’s degree in Theoretical and Experimental Physics from Cambridge University and a master’s degree in Public Administration/International Development from Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government.

Mr. Jeremić was named a Young Global Leader (YGL) by the World Economic Forum in 2013, and appointed to the Leadership Council of the United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network (UN SDSN) in 2014.

He currently serves as a Trustee of the Cambridge China Development Trust (CCDT) and a Member of the Governing Council of Hong Kong’s One Earth Alliance.

Mr. Jeremić served as the President of the Serbian Tennis Federation from 2011 to 2015.