Abdulqawi Yusuf

Abdulqawi Ahmed Yusuf is a Somali lawyer and judge serving on the International Court of Justice since 2009. He served as the court's president from 2018 to 2021. Early life Yusuf was born in the northeastern town of Eyl, Somalia. His family hails from the Osman Mahmoud sub-clan of the larger Majeerteen clan in Northeastern Somalia. He holds a Juris Doctor (Somali National University) and holds a PhD in international law from the Graduate Institute of International Studies of Geneva. Prior to his doctorate, Yusuf completed post-graduate studies in international law at the University of Florence in Italy. He is fluent in Somali, Arabic, English, French, and Italian. Career Yusuf's previous positions include: Legal Adviser and Director of the Office of International Standards and Legal Affairs for UNESCO from March 2001 to January 2009, Legal Advisor (1994–1998) and Assistant Director General for African Affairs, United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), Vienna (1998–2001), Representative and Head of the New York office of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) (1992–1994) and Chief of the Legal Policies Service of UNCTAD (1987–1992), Lecturer in law at the Somali National University (1974–1981) and at the University of Geneva (1981–1983), and Somali delegate to the Third United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea (1975–1980). He has also been guest professor and lecturer at a number of universities and institutes in Switzerland, Italy, Greece and France.