COP28/RewirED Summit Event | ClimateEd: Education for Climate Action

Dr. Luis Benveniste is the Global Director for Education at the World Bank. In his prior role, he was the Human Development Regional Director for Latin American and the Caribbean. He was a co-author of the World Development Report 2012: Gender Equality and Development. Dr. Benveniste´s research interests focus on education financing, teacher policies and student assessment practices. Other publications include “Financing Education at the Bottom of the Pyramid,” with S. al Samarrai in D.A. Wagner, N.M. Castillo, and G.L. Suzanne (eds.), Learning, Marginalization, and Improving the Quality of Education in Low-Income Countries (2022), Teaching in Cambodia (2008), with J. Marshall and M. Araujo, "The political structuration of assessment: Negotiating State power and legitimacy," in A.H. Halsey, P. Brown, H. Lauder & J. Dillabough (eds.), Education: Globalisation and Social Change (2006) and All Else Equal (2003), with M. Carnoy and R. Rothstein, a book on accountability and the organization of public and private schools in the United States. Dr. Benveniste has also previously worked on a wide variety of World Bank education projects in Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, and East Asia and Pacific. He received a B.A. Magna Cum Laude in Psychology from Harvard University and a Ph.D. in International Comparative Education from Stanford University.

Mr. Conrad Omalikeh Sackey serves as The Minister of Basic and Senior Secondary Education and doubles as The Chair of the Sierra Leone Teaching Service Commission. Prior to his current roles he was The Chief Executive Officer of the Windsor Fellowship, a national education charity; Head of Information and Advice at Anglia Ruskin University; Strategic Manager, London East Connexions Partnership, a sub-regional partnership that coordinated integrated student support in Education; and an Additional Inspector of the Office of Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills in the United Kingdom. He holds a MA in Education from University College London, Institute of Education; B.Sc. (Econ) Hons from Fourah Bay College, University of Sierra Leone; and is a Chartered Director, Institute of Directors, UK. He also has a number of professional qualifications in Educational Management, Teaching, Careers Guidance and Company Direction. Additionally, he is a Board Member of the African Federation of Teaching Regulatory Authorities (AFTRA), a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, Member of Institute of Directors, and a 2008 Travelling Fellow of Winston Churchill Memorial Trust

Temilade Salami is the founder and Executive Director of “EcoChampions”, one of Africa’s largest networks of young environmentalists and activists, leading environmental change through climate education, leadership and advocacy. She has spent the past five years leading a group of over 200 young environmentalists across Africa. In this capacity, she has designed and developed various Climate change programs and projects across 26 African countries. Her work supports the integration of Climate Education into Nigeria's education system and has authored two environmental books to bridge the climate education gap in Africa. She holds a master's degree in Environment, Development and Policy from the University of Sussex. Last year, she launched the Climate Education Leaders Fellowship in Africa, a program that combines knowledge, expertise, and mentorship to prepare and educate the next generation of climate leaders and activists. She has also assisted UNESCO ESD with the development of guidelines to assist policymakers in incorporating climate education into education policies and curricula for COP27.

María Soledad Bos works in the Education Division of the Inter-American Development Bank in Washington DC as an Education Lead Specialist. In this role, she regularly participates in the preparation and execution of lending operations in the education sector throughout Latin America and the Caribbean, develops sector strategies and conducts research on learning and equity in education. More recently, Soledad is coordinating the Green Social Agenda, which seeks to integrate social investments and policies with the climate change agenda. Soledad holds a Masters in Public Policy from the University of California at Berkeley and a BA in Economics from the Universidad Nacional de Cuyo in Mendoza, Argentina.

Robert Jenkins, Director of Education and Adolescent Development, Programme Group, joined UNICEF in 1995. He brings over 20 years of experience in international development and humanitarian programming in Africa, Asia and the Middle East. Prior to his current appointment, Mr. Jenkins served as the UNICEF Representative, Jordan, from 2014-2019, and Deputy Director, Division of Policy and Strategy in UNICEF Headquarters from 2009-2014. From 1995-2009, Robert Jenkins served with UNICEF in programme and management positions in Uganda (1995-1997), Bangladesh (1997-2000), Myanmar (2000-2003), India (2003-2006) and Mozambique (2006-2009). Mr. Jenkins earned a Doctor of Education Degree from the University of Bath and a Master’s Degree from the London School of Economics in the United Kingdom.