Icet Keynotes

Edem ADUBRA, PhD

Chief of the Section for Teacher Development & Head of the Secretariat of the International Task Force on Teachers

Edem Adubra joined UNESCO in 2003 in the Division of Secondary, Technical and Vocational Education as a programme specialist (P3). In 2006, he transferred to Windhoek Cluster Office as P4 to lead UNESCO’s Education programme in Angola, Lesotho, Namibia, South Africa and Swaziland. Most of his responsibilities included support to the reconstruction of the Angolan education system after the civil war. He also coordinated partnership in Education between UNESCO and the Southern African Development Community (SADC), particularly in the areas of teacher training, higher education, TVET, EMIS, ESD and HIV/AIDS.

In 2009, he was reappointed to Headquarters as the Chief of Section for Teacher Policy and Development before the Sector management requested him to take over the Secretariat of the International Task Force on Teachers for EFA in 2012. He contributed to the consolidation of the Teacher Task Force initiative, which led to the merger of the two structures (UNESCO’s teacher programme and the Task Force Secretariat) into a single Section under his leadership, starting from January 2016. Mobilizing and coordinating partners for the implementation of the Teacher Target in SDGs is at the center of his present responsibilities.

Prior to his career at UNESCO, Edem Adubra spent over sixteen years as a teacher and a high school principal in both rural and urban areas in his native Togo. He also conducted teacher-training courses at the Université du Bénin (Lomé, Togo).

Adubra obtained his Bachelor degree in Arts from Université du Bénin (Lomé, Togo) in 1980, his Master’s degree in Linguistics from Lancaster University (UK) in 1987, and a dual Doctoral degree in Educational Administration and Comparative and International Education from the Pennsylvania State University (USA) in 2002. He received several distinctions, including the Hubert Humphrey Fellowship Award in 1996 (USA) and the Fellowship Award of the African Federation of Teaching Regulatory Authorities – AFTRA (2017)

Hendrina Chalwe Doroba

Executive Director, Forum for African Women Educationalists (FAWE)

Hendrina Chalwe Doroba is the Executive Director of the Forum for African Women Educationalists (FAWE)-Africa. She has over 35 years of experience in education, gender, policy advocacy and development, working with government, donors, local and international NGOs, a teacher trainer and mathematician. She is passionate about supporting/ building the capacities of teachers in gender responsive pedagogy and empowering the youth to take responsibilities in addressing issues that hinder their education especially in Mathematics Science and Technology. A member of the Advisory Board of the Global Monitoring report, UNGEI Advisory Board, Global Women Leadership Network (GWLN) and Synergos Senior Fellow (2014), Chairperson of GIMAC Steering Committee  and represents GIMAC on ECOSCCO.