Hubert Gijzen, Director and Representative

Background - Prof. Hubert Gijzen holds a PhD in Environmental Biotechnology from the Radboud University Nijmegen in The Netherlands. Hubert has a long and established career in both academics and in international cooperation. He has worked in Academic institutions and Universities, the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in Embassies abroad, in International Institutes and the United Nations (UNESCO). Throughout his career, he has lived and worked in various countries and regions (Europe, Africa, South America, Asia), in a range of functions as Full Professor and Chair of Department in Universities, as Regional Representative, as Teamleader, and now as UNESCO Director and Representative. He has implemented short missions to over 80 countries, and has developed and implemented large capacity building, research and cooperation programmes and projects in various countries and regions. 

Besides his current work as a UNESCO Director and Representative, he continues to hold positions as full Professor at UNESCO-IHE Institute for Water Education and at Wageningen University (since 1995), and as a visiting professor in several other institutions. Hubert Gijzen has published over 300 articles and books, and presented numerous keynotes and conference presentations in the fields of water management, microbiology, environmental biotechnology, and in sanitary and environmental engineering. He is a member of several regional and international scientific and technological associations, and he also serves in various international advisory functions and on Boards of prestigious Institutes and programmes. 

UNESCO - Hubert Gijzen joined UNESCO in 2006 as the Director of the UNESCO Regional Science Bureau for Asia and the Pacific, based in Jakarta; he also is the UNESCO Representative for Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Timor Leste.