Mr Andreas Brandner, Managing Director, and Mr Yanko Yanev, Chief Executive Officer, of Knowledge Management Austria, presented the award to the Director-General, explaining that this was in recognition of UNESCO’s key role in promoting the concept of and in building inclusive Knowledge Societies since 2005.

With the newly adopted 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, referring to Knowledge Societies, UNESCO and its partners will continue to promote the creation, acquisition, sharing and preservation of knowledge for development.

The jury commended the personal leadership and achievements of the Director-General, notably with regard to her international efforts to advance gender equality, quality education for all, and combat terrorist financing by preventing the illicit trafficking of cultural goods.

The Knowledge Management Award is given annually since 2008, to an international organization and to a personality to recognize outstanding achievements in the field of knowledge policies or knowledge management. It is also meant to recognize the global impact made on the development of  knowledge societies in general and more specifically on knowledge creation, transformation, distribution and application.