Former UNESCO Director joins board of Alexandria Trust

London, 21 November 2014 – The Alexandria Trust today announced the appointment to its board of trustees of a new member, Mr. Khalil Mahshi, former director of UNESCO’s International Institute for Educational Planning (IIEP) in Paris between 2010 and 2014.

Mr. Mahshi also served as IIEP’s Deputy Director and Senior Program Specialist from 2001 to 2010. He is currently an independent education policy and planning professional. Through his work at IIEP, he contributed to the formulation of education strategies and institutional capacity development for educational policy and planning within ministries of education in numerous countries. Before joining IIEP in 2001, he served in Palestine as Director General for International and Public Relations at the Ministry of Education and Higher Education, Director of Ramallah Friends Schools, and a lecturer at Birzeit University.

Mr. Mahshi joins a board of respected leaders in education, human rights, civil society, development, and business, under whose guidance the Trust has advanced projects to support free dialogue, education reform, and access to high-quality academic content in the region. The board of trustees is chaired by Emma Playfair and includes Salah Khalil, the organisation’s founder; Rt. Hon. Charles Clarke; Heba Raouf Ezzat; and Frances Guy.

The Alexandria Trust was established in 2011 in response to the unprecedented opportunities that now exist to transform life chances across the Arab world. Its vision, supported by core funding from Arab business leaders, is to contribute to restoring world-class standards of education across the Arab region.