UNESCO Prize for girls’ and women’s education - International jury

The International Jury for the UNESCO Prize for Girls’ and Women’s Education is appointed by the Director-General of UNESCO on the basis of their reputation in the advancement of education for girls and women, and with consideration for equitable geographical distribution and gender balance.

Composed of five independent experts, the jury meets once every year to assess nominations for the Prize and presents its recommendations to the Director-General of UNESCO.

In accordance with the Prize’s Statutes, the Director-General of UNESCO has appointed the jury for the 2021-2022 Prize cycle.

Its members are:

Ms Mayyada Abu Jaber is the founder of JoWomenomics, a non-profit organization to foster mindset change towards greater women’s economic participation, and also the founder of World of Letters, a social enterprise that provides equity and justice to youth and women in the Middle East and North Africa region. She is an Echidna Global Scholar for Leaders in Girls’ Education at Brookings Institution and conducted research to evaluate gender bias in the national Jordanian curriculum. Mayyada served as an educational consultant at the office of Her Majesty Queen Rania Abdullah II. In 2017, Mayyada was recognized by the World Bank as an inspirational leader in the Middle East and North Africa. Mayyada is also recognized as one of the women leaders in the Arab World by The Gibran Chair for Value and Peace.

Mr Chernor Bah is a global advocate for education, a champion for girls and an expert in international development. As an adolescent, he founded Sierra Leone’s Children’s Parliament to ensure youth voices were heard in post-war reconstruction efforts. He led youth-related initiatives across three continents for multiple organizations. He co-founded A World at School and was an influential leader of the "I am Malala" campaign. From 2015 to early 2017, Chernor led an initiativeto provide solutions for adolescent girls affected by the Ebola outbreak at the Population Council. A former refugee, Chernor has received numerous honors for his service to girls and young people. As Executive Director of Purposeful, Chernor leads programmes, advocacy and partnerships to empower young women around the world.

Dr Jianhong Dong currently serves as a member of the Expert Committee of the Chinese National Commission for UNESCO in education. She has been engaged in education programmes and international exchanges since the late 1970s through her work with the Ministry of Education of China and at the Chinese National Commission for UNESCO. She worked as a loaned expert at UNESCO on the UNESCO/China Funds-in-Trust Project on teacher education, and  has served on the International Jury for the UNESCO Confucius Prize for Literacy twice. She has published on education policy, education reform, rural education and social development as well as girls’ education.

Mr Alex Munive is the Gender Equality Policy and Programme Lead Consultant at the Stanford Global Centre for Gender Equality. In his previous position as the Head of Gender Equality and Inclusion for Plan International, he provided thought-leadership on gender equality to the 4 billion Euro organization-wide 5-year strategy. He led the development of Plan International’s global gender transformative and multi-country flagship initiatives ‘Girls 2030’ known for quality programming, innovation, and results. These initiatives are currently being implemented on all continents. He also worked as a consultant for the European Union(link is external), the Nordic Development Fund, the Inter-American Development Bank and the Finnish government.

Dr Christina Ting Kwauk is a non-resident fellow in the Brookings Institution’s Center for Universal Education. She is an expert on girls’ education in developing countries, 21st century skills and youth empowerment, sport for development, and the intersections of gender, education, and climate change. Christina is a co-author of "What Works in Girls’ Education: Evidence for the World’s Best Investment" and has published numerous policy papers and academic articles on gender and education. She also chaired the Clinton Foundation’s Girls CHARGE initiative, advised the Obama Foundation’s Girls Opportunity Alliance, and the UK Department for International Development’s Girls’ Education Challenge.