Paul Coustère is Deputy Director of IIEP.
As Deputy Director of IIEP, Paul Coustère contributes to the goals and objectives of the Institute, in particular by promoting an integrated approach to capacity development, including training, research and technical assistance, in the areas of policy formulation, educational planning and management.
Beyond his responsibilities as Deputy Director, Mr Coustère monitors developments in the field of economics of education, participates in the development of tools for education sector analysis, and contributes to the operationalization of the Post-2015 agenda for education.
Prior to joining IIEP, Mr Coustère began his professional career as an Education Economist, with his first area of specialization in the 1990s being the design and analysis of sample surveys on learning outcomes, first in Washington DC as a resident consultant with the World Bank, then in Dakar as Head of the Program for the Analysis of Education Systems (PASEC) of the Conference of Ministers of Education of French Speaking Countries (CONFEMEN). In 2000, he joined the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs as Head of the Bureau for Basic Education and Literacy.
During the French Presidency of the G8 in 2002–2003, Mr Coustère participated in the launch of the Fast Track Initiative (now the Global Partnership for Education). He also led the discussions with UNESCO to create the Pôle de Dakar (Senegal), a platform for expertise in education policy analysis, now part of IIEP, becoming its first coordinator in 2004.
From 2006 to 2012, Mr Coustère alternated positions between the French Development Agency (AFD) and the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MAE). These included serving as Head of the Education and Technical Training Division (AFD, 2009) and the coordination of the French Secretariat of the G20 Development Working Group during the French Presidency of the G20 (MAE, 2011).
From 2013 to 2014, Mr Coustère was Head of the Country Support Team at the Secretariat of the Global Partnership for Education in Washington DC.
Education
- Graduate of the Ecole Normale Supérieure (Paris).
- “Agrégation” of Economic and Social Sciences.
- “Maîtrise” (eq. Masters 1) in Tropical Geography and a “Magistere” (eq. Masters 2) in International Relations, both from the University of Paris I, Sorbonne.
Publications
Articles in peer-reviewed journals
“Multilevel models in ecological analysis: The example of educational research” (co-author with Pascal Bressoux, and Christine Leroy-Audouin), Revue Française de Sociologie, January–March 1997.
“Putting inputs to work in elementary schools: What can be done in the Philippines” (co-author with Jee-Peng Tan and Julia Lane), Economic Development and Cultural Change, 1997, University of Chicago.
Selected other noteworthy documents
1988: “The 15–25-year-olds in the low-income suburbs of Bangui: A population profile” (Master’s Thesis, Sorbonne University)
CONFEMEN / PASEC
1999: Les facteurs de l’efficacité dans l’enseignement primaire (co-author with Luc Behaghel)
(Synthèse des enquêtes PASEC au Congo, Djibouti, Mali, Centrafrique, Sénégal, Burkina Faso, Cameroun, Côte d’Ivoire et Madagascar)
UNESCO / Pole de Dakar
2005: “EFA in Africa: Paving the Way for Action” (UNESCO / BREDA 2005) – Chief Editor
(2005 regional report of UNESCO on Education for All progress in Africa)
French Government policy documents:
2007: French strategy for cooperation on Gender Equality
2009: French strategy for cooperation on Education and Vocational Training
2010: Development Cooperation: a French Vision – December 2010
For all three documents, Mr Coustère was the organizer of the consultation and main author.
