Ziyad Baroud is the former Minister of Interior and Municipalities (MoIM) of the Republic of Lebanon. He served in this role in two consecutive cabinets, from July 2008 until June 2011. Under his leadership, the MoIM was awarded the 2010 United Nations Public Service Award First Prize.

In 2010, Mr. Baroud received the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES) 2010 Manatt Democracy Award, in a tribute to his commitment to freedom and democracy. In July 2011, he was awarded “Commandeur de Numéro de l’Ordre Civil du Mérite” by the King of Spain, Juan Carlos I. In October 2010, he was named “Officier de la Légion d’Honneur” by the French President, Nicolas Sarkozy, for his achievements. And in 2009, he was awarded “Grand Officier de L’Ordre National du Mérite de la République Française”. In 2007, he was recognized as Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum.

Prior to his appointment as Minister, Mr. Baroud held a number of positions, among which is his role as a member of the Lebanese National Commission on Electoral Law (2005-2006). In 2004, Mr. Baroud was elected Secretary General of the Lebanese Association for Democratic Elections, leading a group of more than 1300 domestic electoral observers. He has also served as a board member for the Lebanese Chapter of Transparency International since 2006. Additionally, Mr. Baroud is on the board of the Lebanese Center for Policy Studies and on the board of trustees of Notre Dame University.

A court lawyer by practice and managing partner at HBD-T Law Firm, Ziyad Baroud held a number of academic posts as lecturer in two prestigious universities in Lebanon, Université Saint Joseph and Holy Spirit University Kaslik. Mr. Baroud has authored a number of publications on subjects related to local governance, decentralization, human rights, and other political and legal issues. He has also worked as a consultant to various UN Agencies in Lebanon.

Mr. Baroud is a graduate of College Saint Joseph. He obtained his master’s degree in Law from Saint-Joseph University of Beirut in 1992, and pursued his doctoral studies in Paris.