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

During an extraordinary session of the Intergovernmental Council, held at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris (France) on 17 October 2009, the composition of its Bureau was renewed until 2011.

For the period 2009-2011, the MOST IGC Bureau will be composed of:

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

Vice-Presidents:

  • for Africa: Professor Sébastien Djédjé Dano, Forum Minister of National Reconciliation and Relations with Institutions, Côte d’Ivoire;
  • for the Arab States: Mrs Milia Jabbour, First Secretary, Deputy Permanent Delegate, Lebanon;
  • for Asia and the Pacific: Mr Imran Abdullah, Deputy Permanent Delegate, Permanent Delegation of Malaysia to UNESCO, Malaysia;
  • for Europe and North America: Professor Tuomo Melasuo, Finland;
  • for Eastern Europe: Ms Besiana Kadare, Alternate Permanent Delegate, Albania;
  • for Latin America and the Caribbean: H.E. Jeanette Sanchez, Minister of Social Welfare, Ecuador.

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

Following the refocusing of the programme, the IGC Bureau, in cooperation with the SAC, will be used to discuss the issue-driven pertinence of the projects and to approve the competence and expertise of the 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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