Ann Therese Ndong-Jatta is Director of UNESCO's Regional Office for Education in Africa and UNESCO's representative in Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Senegal and The Gambia.

She took up her function in UNESCO Dakar in June 2008.

Born in 1956 in The Gambia, Ms Ndong-Jatta holds a BA (Honours) in Education, English and History obtained from Bayero University (Nigeria) in 1980 and an M.Sc. in Educational Leadership obtained from Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee(USA), in 1984.

She also obtained postgraduate Certificate in Educational Policy Analysis, Development Studies and Evaluation from Harvard University, Boston(USA) in 1999.

Teaching career

In 1980, Ms Ndong-Jatta began her career as a teacher, and soon moved on to assume the following responsibilities:

• Principal of the first secondary school for vocational training in the Gambia with the Catholic Mission (1985-1995)
• Coordinator of Educational Management Training (1989-1994)
• Chief Education Officer responsible for planning (1996-1998)
• Director of Secondary and Tertiary Education (1998-1999)

Concurrently, she was the Coordinator of the Education Sector Policy Review and Formulation of the Master Plan for the Gambia (1996-2003).

Minister of Education

From 1999 to 2004, Ms Ndong-Jatta served as the Gambian Minister of Education.

During her tenure, she introduced senior management teams and implemented reforms aimed at increasing access to education, especially for girls, and for improving its quality.

She also worked to promote the decentralization of educational services and to institute a special fund for education so as to help with the enrolment of children in school.

Ms Ndong-Jatta joined UNESCO in September 2004 as Director of the Division of Basic Education in the Education Sector.

Assistant to the Director is Mrs  Ramatoulaye Diop Diagne (r.diagne(a)unesco.org)