Gabriela Ramos Patiño, distinguished Mexican economist and diplomat, has become one of the three finalists to become the managing director of Unesco After the expiration of Audrey Azoulay’s second term in December.
With a career covering decades in international organizations, Ramos positions himself As a transformative leader for UNESCO – officially the educational, scientific and cultural organization of the United Nations – While the agency goes beyond its 80th anniversary this year.
Responding to a request for appointments in 2024, Mexico presented Ramos, Originally from Michoacán who will be 61 years old next Tuesday.
This week, a report citing sources from UNESCO revealed that she was a finalist alongside Egypt Khald Ahmed El-Janny Ali Ezz, 54, former Minister of Tourism and Antiquities, and Edmouard Matoko farm, 68, from the Republic of Congo, a longtime officer of UNESCO.
After a campaign period that begins this month, the board of directors of 58 UNESCO members – elected by the Member States every four years – will vote by secret ballot in October, the winner who will be announced in November. The new head will serve a four -year term with the possibility of renewal.
As UNESCO’s most high -end manager, the Managing Director oversees a known organization for his More than 1,100 World Heritage sites in the world, Its global efforts Promote inclusive and equitable quality education and his Safeguard of cultural traditions.
Since 1945, there have been 10 UNESCO heads, including a Mexican: Jaime Torres BodetOriginally from Mexico City, which was the second director general of the agency from 1948 to 1952.
Azoulay, the current director general, began her first mandate in 2018 and was re -elected in 2021. The 52 -year -old Frenchwoman, who was Minister of Culture in her country in 2016 and 2017, is the second leader in UNESCO.
Ramos, which has devoted his career to advance global cooperation and to take up urgent social challenges, seeks to become the third.
She holds a diploma in international relations of the Universidad Iberoamericana and a master’s degree in public policy of the John F. Kennedy school of government from Harvard University.
Due to her strong academic projection, she was invited to join the Mexico Foreign Ministry in 1988.
From there, she went to international positions, in particular director of the Mexico City for the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). It serves as a regional center for Latin America and the Caribbean.
She then became director general at the OECD headquarters in Paris, and since 2020, the UNESCO deputy director general for the social and human sciences, supervising critical initiatives aimed at promoting inclusive companies.
Its portfolio includes the fight against economic inequalities, the promotion of gender equality, the fight against racism and the progression of the ethics of emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence.
In particular, she directed the adoption of UNESCO’s first worldwide framework on AI ethics in 2021 and launched The World Forum against Racism.
Ramos’ candidacy arrives at a pivotal moment for UNESCO, which faces what it called an “era of conflict and polarization”.
She pleaded for a “stronger, more inclusive and more innovative” organization to restore confidence in multilateralism.
“Solidarity is also declining and development cooperation suffers”, ” Ramos said. “We are not on the right track to respond to international commitments made in the past, with disastrous consequences for people and the planet.”
“We do not manage to fill the gaps in terms of inequality that erude our societies and our democracies.”
Her vision is aligned with her vast OECD experience, where she directed initiatives on inclusive growth, climate change and gender equity.
Among its achievements are the reforms of tax systems through the G20, the creation of gender quotas to reduce the disparities in labor and The creation of the W20 platform (Within the framework of the G20) for the empowerment of women.
She has received many distinctions for her work on gender equality and social inclusion, in particular the order of merit of France.
With reports from Millennium,, The financier And Forbes
