Dr. Hanna Safieh is one of the founders of the Confederation of Palestinian Communities in Latin America and the Caribbean – COPLAC – established in 1985. He served as its president from 1987 until 1993, and as its secretary general from 1993 until 2017. He was a member of the Palestinian National Council from 1988 to 2018, and a member the Palestinian Central Council from 1989 to 2018. He holds a doctorate in physical chemistry of combustion from the Catholic University of Leuven.