Stefania Giannini
Stefania Giannini is an Italian politician and linguist. She is theAssistant Director-General for Educationsince May 2018, providing strategic vision and leadership forUNESCO’s Education Sector in coordinating and monitoring the implementation of theEducation 2030 Agenda, encapsulated in Sustainable Development Goal 4.
Stefania has coordinated a number of relevantinternational projectsin the field of higher education and research, contributing to the improvement of university cooperation between Europe and several other countries, from the United States to countries in Asia as well as the Middle East and North Africa region.
With an academic background in the Humanities (PhD in Linguistics), Ms Giannini became Professor of Linguistics in 1992 and served as Rector of theUniversity for Foreigners of Perugia(2004 – 2012), being one of the first female Rectors and the youngest at that time in Italy.
Stefania has been a member of the Selection Committee of theErasmus Mundusprogramme in Brussels (2005 – 2009), the person responsible for international relations in the Committee of The Conference of Italian University Rectors (2006 – 2010), and a member of theNational Commission for the Promotion of Italian Culture Abroadat the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (2006 – 2011).In her role as Senator of the Republic of Italy (2013 – 2018) andMinister of Education, Universities and Research(2014 – 2016), Stefania developed and implemented a structural reform of the Italian education system, centred on social inclusion and targeting cultural awareness.
During the Italian Presidency, Stefania also chaired the Education and Competitiveness Council of the European Union to promote the importance of creativity, cultural heritage and innovation as tools for dialogue between diverse populations, with a view to preventing radicalization and extremism.In addition to her current position as UNESCO’s Assistant Director-General for Education, Stefania is the Advisor to the European Commissioner for Research and Innovation as well as a member of the Atlantis Group of theVarkey Foundationand of RISE (Research, Innovation and Science Policy Experts).
