Former European Commissioner for R&I and education Mariya Gabriel appointed to deputy head of UNESCO

The Director-General of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) has appointed three women as the first members of his senior management team. The three include Mariya Gabriel, a former European Commissioner for innovation, research, culture, education and youth.

Gabriel, who was Commissioner from 2019 to 2023 and a former deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bulgaria from 2023 to 2024, will be Assistant Director-General for Communication and Information. The UNESCO announcement said that when she was Commissioner, she led the “One million talents in deep tech” initiative and the Digital Education Action Plan. As Commissioner in charge of the Digital Economy and Society from 2017 to 2019, she was in charge of the European Artificial Intelligence Strategy and the Digital Europe Programme, UNESCO said.

The other two appointments are Åsa Charlotte Regnér from Sweden as Deputy Director-General and Lidia Brito from Mozambique as Assistant Director-General in charge of Priority Africa and external relations. The announcement by…