Office of the Assistant Director-General for Education

Anne Müller brings over 30 years of experience in strategic communication, knowledge management, and organizational development. During her career at UNESCO, she has played a pivotal role in initiating and overseeing large-scale communication projects and campaigns, both at Headquarters and at regional and country levels. Currently serving as the communication advisor to the Assistant Director-General of Education, Anne leads the Education Sector's communication portfolio, working collaboratively with a network of communication specialists around the world. She is a trained journalist, holds a master’s degree in communications, and has pursued further studies in system thinking, change management and narrative conflict management. 

Sobhi Tawil (PhD) is Director of the Future of Learning and Innovation team at UNESCO where he currently leads the Futures of Education initiative, as well as work on technology and innovation in education. He has some 30 years of experience in teaching, education policy analysis, research and program management with diverse institutions and organizations, including the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), the Graduate Institute for International and Development Studies (Geneva), as well as the Network for International Policies and Cooperation in Education and Training (NORRAG). He has also worked on issues of education policy in relation to identity-based conflict, social cohesion, and citizenship. Sobhi Tawil holds a PhD in Education and Development from the Graduate Institute for Development Studies in Geneva.

Manos Antoninis is the Director of the Global Education Monitoring (GEM) Report since 2017. He was previously responsible for the monitoring section of the report. He coordinated the financing gap estimates for the 2030 education targets, the projections on the achievement of universal primary and secondary education completion, and the World Inequality Database on Education. He has been representing the report team in the Technical Cooperation Group on SDG 4 indicators, which he is currently co-chairing.  

Prior to joining the team he worked for 10 years on public finance, monitoring and evaluation projects in education including: a public expenditure tracking and service delivery survey of secondary education provision in Bangladesh; the evaluation of a basic education project in the western provinces of China; the mid-term evaluation of the Education For All Fast Track Initiative; the annual reporting of progress in the implementation of the Second Primary Education Development Project in Bangladesh; a basic education capacity building programme in six states in Nigeria; the evaluation of an in-service, cluster-based teacher training programme in Pakistan; and the country study of the Out of School Children Global Initiative in Indonesia. He holds a DPhil in Economics for a study of technical education and the labour market in Egypt, completed at the Centre for the Study of African Economies of the University of Oxford. 

Borhene Chakroun is an engineer and has a PhD in Education Sciences from Bourgogne University in France. Borhene worked, during the 1990s, as trainer, chief trainer, project manager. He has also worked as short-term consultant for the EU, World Bank and other international organisations before coming to the European Training Foundation (ETF) in 2001. At the ETF, Borhene worked as Senior Human Capital Development specialist. He is now Director of Policies and Lifelong Learning Systems Division at UNESCO-HQ. Borhene conducted a range of policy reviews and skills systems diagnosis in different contexts. He has authored and co-authored various articles and books in the field of skills development and lifelong learning. Much of his most recent work focuses on global trends in reforming education and training systems and global agenda for skills development in the context of the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda. He is also the coordinator of the Global Education Coalition launched by UNESCO to respond to the COVID-19 crisis.

Prior to his current position as Chief of Section of Education Policy at UNESCO, Gwang-Chol Chang worked at various locations and positions such as Officer in Charge of the UNESCO Multisectoral Regional Office for West Africa and Sahel (UNESCO Dakar), and Senior Programme Specialist/Chief of Education at UNESCO Asia-Pacific Regional Bureau for Education (UNESCO Bangkok) and UNESCO Dakar Office. At UNESCO HQ and in the field, he has developed and led various education programmes, including the right to education, education policy analysis, sector planning, system and data management, learning assessment, education financing and early childhood care and education. Before joining UNESCO, he worked at the Ministry of Education of the DPR Korea. He holds Doctorate in Education from Kim Hyong Jik University.

Hervé Huot-Marchand has been working at UNESCO Headquarters since October 2019 as Chief of the Section for Youth, Literacy and Skills Development (YLS) in the Education Sector. He holds two master's degrees, as engineer and specialist in the field of education. Hervé Huot-Marchand has more than 25 years of experience in the domain of education and training at various levels (global, regional and national), and mostly in Sub-Saharan Africa at international level. He has worked for UNESCO and other bilateral partners, including for 10 years as regional adviser for Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) for Sub-Saharan Africa, at the UNESCO regional and multisectoral Office, based in Dakar. In this capacity, he was actively involved in research work, knowledge production, policy support and development, advocacy, capacity development as well as monitoring, evaluation and coordination of TVET and literacy programmes in Sub-Saharan Africa. Among other innovations, he has pioneered methods to enhance coordination and efficiency between TVET and literacy systems through ICTs, built and coordinated an inter-agency group on TVET at sub-regional level, and developed innovative mobile training on TVET to reach youth and adults in rural areas. From 2016 until his appointment to UNESCO Headquarters, he served as the Head of Office and UNESCO Representative to Mali, covering the full mandate of UNESCO which includes education, (natural and human) sciences, culture as well as communication and information.

Mr Carlos Vargas is a sociologist of education who specializes on global education policy. His research and publications focus on the relationship between education, human rights and well-being; the orientations and discourses of public policy and their effects on society. He has worked for universities, civil society, international organisations and local governments across the globe implementing lifelong learning policies and analysing their intersection with equity, inclusion, and social justice. Since 2015, he works for UNESCO, where he has coordinated research on the social relevance and cultural pertinence of education in five continents and led the Organization’s work on teachers, inclusion and lifelong learning in Latin America and the Caribbean. At present, he leads the Section of Teacher Development at UNESCO’s Headquarters and the Secretariat of the International Taskforce on Teachers for Education 2030. 

Christopher Castle has more than 30 years of development experience in the areas of education and health, working at UNESCO since 2004.  After holding a position at UNESCO’s International Institute for Educational Planning, he transferred to UNESCO Headquarters where he served as Chief of the Section of Health and Education until November 2022, before taking on his current role as Director of the Division for Peace and Sustainable Development. Mr Castle holds a BS in International Studies and French from The American University, and an MSc in International Relations from the London School of Economics.

Ms Min Jeong Kim brings more than 25 years of experience in educational development, global advocacy, media and communication. Prior to her current position as Director of Education 2030 Division, she was UNESCO Head of Office and Representative in Jordan and also spent several years as the Head of UNESCO Office in Myanmar. She was Head of the UN Secretary-General’s Global Education First Initiative (GEFI) Secretariat at the UNESCO Liaison Office in New York and was on secondment to the One UN Secretariat on Post 2015 Development Planning as a Policy Advisor. She had previously worked in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, as Chief of UNESCO Education Section for the Indian Ocean countries; and in Beirut, Lebanon, as the UNESCO Regional Programme Coordinator for Education in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. She also worked in the Executive Office of the Assistant Director-General for Education and the Associated Schools Project Network at UNESCO Headquarters. Before joining UNESCO, she was a journalist in her home country, Republic of Korea. 

Ms Kim holds an Executive Masters in International Relations and Management from the University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands, a Masters in Political Science from Yonsei University, Republic of Korea, and a Bachelors in English Language and Literature from Seoul National University, Republic of Korea. 

Julie Saito has been coordinating UNESCO Associated Schools network (ASPnet) since February 2020 to connect 12,000 ASPnet member schools in 182 countries. Prior to the current post, she was a programme specialist of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) to mobilize and empower over 10,000 youth leaders from around the world. Julie joined UNESCO/Public Information in 2007 as Attaché de Presse for the former Director-General, Koïchiro Matsuura and Media Partnership specialist. Following the unprecedented Tsunami in Japan in 2011, she initiated the Kizuna Campaign to collect more than 30,000 message cards of hope from 60 countries to deliver to the ASPnet schools affected in Japan and co-organized two charity concerts at UNESCO HQs in 2011 and 2012 to collect funds. Having obtained MS from Columbia University - Graduate School of Journalism in New York, she worked as journalist for 20 years, including NBC News and Asahi Shimbun. She is a laureate of the Emmy Awards for the KNBC News documentary on the preparedness for earthquake in Japan. Julie also studied Musicology and Piano at Hunter College and Manhattan School of Music in New York. Such experience inspires her to promoting art and culture through transformative education.