Agenda

Prior to his appointment to Geneva, Mr. Gürber had been serving as Deputy State Secretary at the State Secretariat of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs in Bern since 2023.  He has held multiple other positions within the Department, including as Head of the United Nations Division; Director of the Centre for Security Sector Governance; Deputy Head of the Middle East and North Africa Division; and Regional Coordinator.

Mr. Gürber also held Deputy Head positions at the Permanent Mission of Switzerland to the United Nations in New York, and at the Swiss Mission in Copenhagen.  After beginning his diplomatic career in 1997, he worked in Bern and in London, before being assigned as a diplomatic staffer to the former Political Division IV of the State Secretariat of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs in Bern from 1999 to 2005.

Mr. Gürber undertook postgraduate studies at the Europainstitut in Basel and the Faculty of Law at the University of Bern. He obtained a degree in history, general studies, linguistics and literature from the University of Basel.

JEANETTE MORWANE is an ICT and innovation executive with more than 16 years’ experience at operational, tactical and strategic management levels. Accumulated substantial experience, knowledge and understanding of ICT Policy, technology innovation, innovations systems development, policy formulation, strategic planning, programme management and human capital development. She was the Head of the Secretariat for the Presidential Commission on the Fourth Industrial Revolution. The Commission was established and coordinated by the DCDT on behalf of President Cyril Ramaphosa. She previously served on the board of SITA as a government representative and worked as Director of ICT R&D and Services Industry at the Department of Science and Innovation (DSI). She started her career at The Innovation Hub, Africa’s first internationally accredited Science Park as project officer and Activator Programme Manager. She holds a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from University of South Africa (School of Business Leadership) and Bachelor of Arts in Information Science from University of Pretoria.

An ambitious person growing up in the heart of Egypt, I was always ready for an exciting challenge. 

Determined in the modernizing times of the 90s to graduate from the Faculty of Law, Menufia University to start my journey in the legal field. After my studies I went on to work in various leading legal consultancy and law firms, where I played a key role in numerous substantial acquisitions in Egypt.

In 2001, I joined Vodafone Egypt, the leading telecommunications company in the country. With the company’s Legal Department, I accomplished an extensive roster of major acquisitions that took place during my 10 years' tenure.

After a decade with Vodafone Egypt, it was time to get back to my roots. I joined the reputable Zaki Hashem & Partners Law firm as a Partner in 2010, where I led the firm’s transformation and regional expansion. By 2012, I had decided to return to the Telecom industry, joining Orange Egypt as its Legal & Corporate Affairs Director.

As of 2017, I have rejoined Vodafone Egypt in the role of External Affairs and Legal Director, leading various teams across External Communications, Sustainable Business, Vodafone Egypt Foundation, Regulatory Affairs, Public Policy, Government Relations, Legal and Compliance, and Corporate Security.

Alex has over 30 years professional experience in leadership roles with a focus on building and implementing partnerships to address the world's biggest development challenges. Alex currently serves in the Executive Office of the ITU, the UN agency for digital technology, where he oversees Giga, together with UNICEF, an initiative that aims to connect every school to the internet by 2030, as well as Partner2Connect, an ITU-led initiative to achieve universal, meaningful connectivity and digital transformation. From 2019-2022, Alex served as Senior Strategy Advisor and Chief, Special Initiatives, in the Office of the Director of the Telecommunications Development Bureau (BDT). Prior to joining the ITU, Alex worked in both the private and not-for-profit sectors. He is a licensed professional engineer with a degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Toronto and a master’s in public administration from Harvard University.

As UNICEF’s Global Lead for Digital Education and Head of the Global Learning Innovation Hub in Finland, I lead the organization’s vision, strategy, and partnerships for learning innovation and the digital transformation of education systems. 

Working with governments, partners, and UNICEF country offices in over 120 countries, we help build government capacity on digital transformation and support the development of national digital education and AI strategies, strengthen teacher capacity in digital pedagogy and EdTech, evaluate the world's best EdTech tools, conduct research on the impact and cost-effectiveness of innovative digital learning solutions and implementation models, and work with governments to scale digital education in sustainable, inclusive, and evidence-informed ways, aligned with UNICEF’s Digital Education Strategy. 

Our global digital education programmes include Accessible Digital Textbooks, Akelius, Blue Unicorn, EdTech for Good, Gateways, the Global AI for Learning Alliance (GAILA), Learning Cabinet, Learning Passport, Learning Pioneers, Superstar Teachers, Tech4Ed, and Tinkering with Tech and AI.

The Global Learning Innovation Hub is driven by a dual mission: to harness innovations to address the global learning crisis and to shape the future of learning now.

Mark currently manages a team that seeks to clarify the educational implications of mainstream and frontier digital technologies, including AI. He considers how technology is used (and misused) for learning and how it impacts: individual and community health; environmental and financial sustainability; and the quality, equity, and accessibility of education. 

Mark also leads the UNESCO-UNICEF Gateways to Public Digital Learning Initiative which helps countries support education online as well as offline. The Gateways Initiative facilitates international cooperation to strengthen digital learning opportunities that are free and open to learners, teachers and families. It seeks to realize a future where all countries offer excellent digital learning platforms (whether national or sub-national) that are quality-controlled, curriculum-aligned, and accountable to the public. 

Mark has authored numerous publications for UNESCO, including 'An Ed-Tech Tragedy?', a book about education during the COVID-19 pandemic. It examines what happened to learners, teachers, families, communities — and understandings of education itself — when schools closed and formal learning shifted almost exclusively to digital screens. Various sections explore how practices and norms that emerged during the pandemic have rippled into the educational present and influenced visions of the future of education. The publication has sparked international debates about the appropriate places and roles of technology in education. It has been well received by education and technology experts as well as various news outlets, including the New York Times and the Financial Times. 

Mark's other publications of note include 'I’d Blush if I Could' (2019) and 'Reading in the Mobile Era' (2014). 

'I'd Blush if I Could' prompted leading technology companies to make changes to the way AI voice assistants project gender. It clarified how education can help close digital gender divides and was praised by media organizations around the world. 
 
'Reading in the Mobile Era' brought international attention to the ways governments, schools and families can leverage inexpensive mobile technologies to help advance literacy.

Irene Kaggwa is the Programme Manager at the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) for Giga, a joint ITU-UNICEF initiative that seeks to support governments to connect all schools to the Internet by 2030.  

Prior to that, she worked in different roles within Uganda Communications Commission - the regulator in the communications sector in Uganda, for a period of 25 years, including serving as the interim Executive Director from 2020 to 2023. Her experience spans policy development, research, strategy, communications/ICT regulation, radio spectrum management, cyber security and implementation of the various aspects of fostering ICT and ICT enabled socio-economic development. 

A registered engineer, Irene holds a Master of Science in Communications Systems and Signal Processing from the University of Bristol and a Master of Science in Economic Management and Policy (Business Economic Pathway) from the University of Strathclyde in the United Kingdom. She did a Bachelor in Electrical Engineering at Makerere University in Uganda.

Helena Fernandes is the new Chairperson of the Board of Directors (PCA) of the Communications Regulatory Authority – INCM, following her appointment during the 20th Session of the Council of Ministers, which took place on Tuesday, July 9, 2024.

An economist with a Master’s in Business Management, Helena Fernandes replaces Tuaha Mote (who held the position since September 2021), becoming the sixth individual to occupy the PCA role and the second woman to hold the highest position in this institution since its establishment in 1992..

As a leader at INCM, she has contributing to the development of the postal and telecommunications sectors in Mozambique.

At the international level, Ms. Fernandes chaired the Communications Regulatory Association of Southern Africa’s (CRASA) Finance and Audit Committee, for 7 years.

Chaired the WTDC-17’s Finance Committee in Buenos-Aires and vice-chaired the Committee 3 of ITU Plenipotentiary Conference (PP-18) in Dubai.

She has actively participated in the financial and management reforms process of the Commonwealth Telecommunications Organization (CTO) and the Portuguese Speaking Countries Telecommunication Regulatory Association (ARCTEL-CPLP). Ms. Helena Fernandes graduated in Economics and holds an MBA.