Bureau of the Intergovernmental Council

The MOST Intergovernmental Council (IGC) is composed of 35 Member States of UNESCO, elected by the General Conference. The Council convenes every two years and establishes the priority areas to be researched, decides on overall policy and funding questions, and handles the relations with governmental authorities.

The IGC Bureau consists of the President of the IGC, 6 Vice-Presidents (one from each region) and a Rapporteur.

For the current period 2011-2013, the MOST IGC Bureau is composed as follows:

President: H.E. Dr. Alicia Kirchner, Minister of Social Development, Argentina.

Vice-Presidents:

  • for Africa: H.E. Dr Mary Mbiro Khimulu, Ambassador, Permanent Delegate, Kenya;
  • for the Arab States: Mr Jassim Mohd. Alali, United Arab Emirates;
  • for Asia and the Pacific: H.E. Mr Mohammad Réza Majidi, Ambassador, Permanent Delegate, Islamic Republic of Iran;
  • for Europe and North America: Mr Jan M. Haakonsen, Special Adviser, Dept. of Cooperation and Development Research, The Research Council of Norway, Norway;
  • for Eastern Europe: Mr Audrius Bitinas, Vice-Minister of Social Affairs and Employment, Lithuania;
  • for Latin America and the Caribbean: Ms Miriam Patricia Rubio, Secretary-General, Secretariat of Science and Technology, Guatemala.

Rapporteur: Professor Virginia Miralao, Executive Director, Philippine Social Science Council (PSSC), Philippines.


Following the refocusing of the programme, the IGC Bureau, in cooperation with the Scientific Advisory Committee (SAC), will discuss the issue-driven pertinence of projects and approve the competence and expertise of researchers and policy formulators involved.

During its 6th Session (19-21 February 2003), the IGC MOST recommended that:

  • “The role of the IGC Bureau should be considerably strengthened and it should meet twice a year”.
  • “The working group, consisting of the IGC Bureau and the SAC will develop a new result oriented work programme covering the conceptual development of the policy research interface, methodology and international comparative perspectives, taking into consideration the initiatives coming from different stakeholders”.

Read the Recommendations of the sixth session of the IGC MOST [PDF, 82 KB]

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