President & Vice-Chancellor Lloyd Axworthy

Interest & Involvement

Selected Board Memberships

Board Member,The Canadian Landmine Foundation

The Canadian Landmine Foundation is a registered charity with a mission to raise awareness and funds to end the human and economic suffering caused by anti-personnel landmines. CLMF has a strong history of building significant partnerships for mine action and of reminding Canadians of the international leadership provided by the Government of Canada. CLMF was a founding partner in the global Adopt-A-Minefield Campaign. CLMF operates in partnership with the Centre for International Governance Innovation and the University of Winnipeg.

Chair of the Board of Directors, Churchill Gateway Development Corporation

The Churchill Gateway Development Corporation (CGDC) was established in June 2003 for the purpose of marketing the Port of Churchill through diversifying the traffic base and building two-way traffic. The CGDC is a non-share, public-private partnership and includes representation from the Government of Canada (Western Economic Diversification), the Province of Manitoba and OmniTRAX, INC. The CGDC has compiled a dedicated Board of Directors comprised of academics, business leaders, former statesmen and logistic experts which reflect the serious commitment of Manitoban and Canadian leaders to the successful future of the Port of Churchill.

Board Member, Human Rights Watch

Human Rights Watch is one of the world's leading independent organizations dedicated to defending and protecting human rights. By focusing international attention where human rights are violated, they give voice to the oppressed and hold oppressors accountable for their crimes. Their rigorous, objective investigations and strategic, targeted advocacy build intense pressure for action and raise the cost of human rights abuse. For 30 years, Human Rights Watch has worked tenaciously to lay the legal and moral groundwork for deep-rooted change and has fought to bring greater justice and security to people around the world.

Board Member, The MacArthur Foundation

The MacArthur Foundation supports creative people and effective institutions committed to building a more just, verdant, and peaceful world. In addition to selecting the MacArthur Fellows, the Foundation works to defend human rights, advance global conservation and security, make cities better places, and understand how technology is affecting children and society.

Selected Involvement

Special Envoy for Ethiopia-Eritrea, United Nations, (2004-2006)

In 2004, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan appointed Lloyd Axworthy as his special envoy for Ethiopia-Eritrea to assist in implementing a peace agreement between the East African countries.

Head, OAS Electoral Observation Mission to Peru, (2006)

In 2006, the Organization of American States appointed Lloyd Axworthy to lead the OAS Electoral Observation Mission that monitored the 2006 general elections in Peru.

Commissioner,  Aspen Institute Dialogue and Commission on Arctic Climate Change

The circumpolar Arctic region is experiencing significant ecological changes due to global warming. In light of these impending changes, the Aspen Institute, in partner­ship with the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation, has con­vened an international civil society Dialogue and Com­mission to consider the social, environmental, eco­nomic, and legal implications for the region's inhabitants and re­sources. The Commission is composed of scien­tists, policy ex­perts, oil company executives, and repre­senta­tives from Arctic native communities and environ­mental organiza­tions whose knowledge, prominence, and affilia­tions can give weight and draw attention to the group's work.

Commissioner, Commission on Legal Empowerment of the Poor, (2006-2008)

Co-chaired by Madeleine Albright, former U.S. Secretary of State, and Hernando de Soto, Peruvian economist and founder of the Institute for Liberty and Democracy, the Commission on Legal Empowerment of the Poor (Legal Empowerment) is the first global initiative to focus specifically on the link between exclusion, poverty and law.

Legal Empowerment is backed by the personal commitment of more than 20 world leaders, making it an influential force among policymakers, and a catalyst for change within the development community. Legal Empowerment also partners with grassroots and civil society organizations through its Board of Advisors and other alliances, making it a platform for `bottom-up' action. Legal Empowerment is the first global anti-poverty initiative led not by development experts and academics, but by policymakers and practitioners from around the world - the very people looking for practical solutions to solve the challenges of poverty.

Patron, Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect 

There is growing acceptance that the international community not only should but must act when the state itself is either incapable of protecting, or itself inflicting harm on, its populations. At the 2005 World Summit, governments accepted a new international norm, the Responsibility to Protect (R2P), which seeks to hold all states accountable to populations at risk of being attacked, forcibly displaced, or killed. The Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect has been created by key supporters from government, NGOs, and academia to ensure that this R2P doctrine is understood and put into practice by governments and at the United Nations. Its mission is to promote and catalyze international action to help countries to prevent or halt mass atrocities. The Global Centre is housed at the Ralph Bunche Institute for International Studies at The CUNY Graduate Center.

Member,  Editorial Board, Global Responsibility to Protect Journal

Global Responsibility to Protect is the premier journal for the study and practice of the responsibility to protect (R2P). This journal seeks to publish the best and latest research on the R2P principle, its development as a new norm in global politics, its operationalization through the work of governments, international and regional organizations and NGOs, and finally, its relationship and applicability to past and present cases of genocide and mass atrocities including the global response to those cases. Global Responsibility to Protect also serves as a repository for lessons learned and analysis of best practices; it will disseminate information about the current status of R2P and efforts to realize its promise. Each issue contains research articles and at least one piece on the practicalities of R2P, be that the current state of R2P diplomacy or its application in the field.