Irmgarda Kasinskaite-Buddeberg

Ms Irmgarda Kasinskaite-Buddeberg is an Advisor for Communication and Information at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris, France. Since joining UNESCO in 2002, she has held a range of positions, working closely with other UN entities, intergovernmental organizations, research institutions, civil society, and public–private sector partners. She currently leads the initiatives in the fields of media development, pluralism, and diversity.

Until 2022, she coordinated UNESCO’s activities aimed at realizing the human right to access multilingual information and knowledge, with particular attention to socially vulnerable groups. Her work focused on implementing international normative instruments, providing policy and technical advice, and demonstrating intellectual leadership through targeted initiatives, research, and capacity-building efforts.

Since 2017, she has coordinated the preparation, organization, and follow-up of the 2019 International Year of Indigenous Languages, as well as the organization of the International Decade of Indigenous Languages (IDIL 2022–2032). She was also responsible for developing the Global Action Plan for the Decade of Action for Indigenous Languages. In addition, she has coordinated several projects promoting multilingualism in cyberspace and the application of information and communication technologies (ICTs) to lesser-used and endangered languages. She played a key role in the conceptual and methodological development of the UNESCO World Atlas of Languages and coordinated the implementation of the international normative instrument Recommendation concerning the Promotion and Use of Multilingualism and Universal Access to Cyberspace (UNESCO, 2003), along with other major flagship initiatives.

Between 2009 and 2020, she coordinated programmes and projects focused on the digital inclusion of persons with disabilities, within the framework of implementing the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (2006). She also led UNESCO’s work in media and information literacy, including the development of a global assessment framework for country readiness and teacher competencies.

Prior to joining UNESCO, she served as a Senior Programme Specialist at the Ministry of Public Administration Reforms and Local Authorities of the Government of Lithuania. She was also a lecturer at the International Centre for Knowledge Economy and Knowledge Management at Vilnius University and worked with several media, public relations, and advertising agencies in Lithuania.