15 APRIL 2010
UNESCO NEW DIRECTOR GENERAL APPOINTS HER SENIOR TEAM. UN/DPI ERIC FALT
ASSISTANT DIRECTOR GENERAL FOR EXTERNAL RELATIONS.
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UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova today informed the members of
UNESCO's Executive Board of her choice of senior management team. Ms
Bokova, whose mandate began on 15 November last year, said that she
had chosen a "strong, competent, coherent and motivated team" to lead
UNESCO.
The new Deputy Director-General will be Getachew Engida, who is
currently UNESCO's Comptroller and Deputy Assistant Director-General
for Administration. Mr Engida, of Ethiopia, has had a distinguished
international career in auditing and financial management for
prominent international companies and also worked for the
International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) as Assistant
Comptroller. He joined UNESCO in his current position in 2004.
UNESCO's Education Sector will be headed by Qian Tang of
China, who is currently its interim Assistant Director-General. A
specialist in secondary and technical education, Mr Tang has been an
educator and a diplomat as well as a technical and professional
education manager at China's Ministry for Education. He played a
central role in the establishment of UNEVOC, UNESCO's International
Centre for Technical and Vocational Education and Training in Bonn,
Germany. Mr Tang has also been instrumental in mobilizing donor
resources for Education for All and has promoted South/South
cooperation in education.
The new Assistant Director-General in charge of the
Natural Sciences Sector will be Gretchen Kalonji of the United States
of America. Currently Director of International Systemwide Research
Development at the University of California's Office of the President,
Ms Kalonji's international career in materials science and educational
transformation has taken her to university positions in France, Japan
and China. She has also worked with several African universities and
is fluent in Kiswahili and Lingala. Ms Kalonji helped to establish a
science and health initiative linking partners in East Africa with the
University of California.
UNESCO's Social and Human Sciences Sector will be headed
by Maria del Pilar Alvarez-Laso of Mexico. The new Assistant
Director-General is currently Director of Projects at the Latin
American Institute for Educational Communication in Mexico City. Her
distinguished career includes both social science research positions
and media and communications responsibilities, notably as the
Editorial Coordinator at the Mexican Television Institute. Ms
Alvarez-Laso set up Mexico's first satellite educational television
channel. She has championed human rights in Latin America.
The new Assistant Director-General for Culture will be
Francesco Bandarin of Italy. Mr Bandarin is currently Director of
UNESCO's World Heritage Centre, having taken up this position with
UNESCO in 2000. As a specialist in architecture and urban planning, Mr
Bandarin previously worked in both public and private institutions in
the fields of built heritage, cultural heritage conservation,
environmental heritage and cultural events, as well as architectural
and urban design in developing countries. As Director of the World
Heritage Centre, Mr Bandarin has led the development of a vast network
of public private partnerships for World Heritage conservation, as
well as the development of a series of regional category II centres in
every part of the world.
The new Assistant Director-General for UNESCO's
Communication and Information Sector will be Janis Karklins of Latvia.
Currently Latvian Ambassador to France and Permanent Delegate to
UNESCO, after an initial career in industry, Mr Karklins became the
Permanent Representative of his country at the United Nations in
Geneva. As a diplomat, he was closely involved in the preparation of
the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) and played a key
role in its negotiations on internet governance. In 2006, Mr Karklins
was elected president of the Government Advisory Committee of ICANN
(Internet Corporation of assigned Names and Numbers), which plays a
pivotal role in information society issues.
The new Assistant Director-General for the Sector for
External Relations and Cooperation will be Eric Falt of France, who is
currently Director of the Outreach Division of the United Nations
Department of Public Information. Mr Falt's UN career as a spokesman
and head of information services has taken him to many countries in
post-conflict situations, including Cambodia, where he was spokesman
for the United Nations Transitional Authority and Iraq, where he was
in charge of information in the United Nations Office of the
Humanitarian Coordinator for Iraq. He has also worked for the United
Nations in Haiti, Pakistan and Kenya.
UNESCO's Administration Sector is to be headed by Khadija
Ribes of Tunisia. Currently Director-General in charge of the civil
service and administration development in the Office of the Prime
Minister of Tunisia, the new Assistant Director-General for
Administration has led a series of administrative reform initiatives
in her country. Several of these reforms have been undertaken in
cooperation with the World Bank and the United Nations Development
Programme. Ms Ribes, a specialist in e-governance, has worked to
introduce such measures as the introduction of public/private
partnerships, the simplification of administrative procedures and
manuals, the use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs)
in administration and results-based management.
The new Assistant Director-General for UNESCO's Africa
Department will be Lalla Aïcha Ben Barka of Mali, who is currently the
Deputy Executive Secretary of the United Nations' Economic Commission
for Africa. Ms Ben Barka was Director of UNESCO's Regional Bureau for
Education in Africa, from 2004-2007. In the course of her career, she
has contributed to the development of the education systems of twelve
West African countries, including her own, Mali. Ms Ben Barka has also
collaborated with a number of foundations that work for African
development, including the Mo Ibrahim Foundation and the International
Development Research Centre (IDRC, Canada).
The new Assistant Directors-General are expected to take
office on 1 July 2010.
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