Irmgarda Kasinskaite-Buddeberg

Ms Irmgarda Kasinskaite-Buddeberg is Advisor for Communication and Information working at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris, France. Since 2002, she has occupied various positions at the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), working with other UN system entities, intergovernmental organizations, research, civil society, and public-private sector partners. She currently leads the development and implementation of a wide range of programme and project management initiatives in the field of media development, pluralism, and diversity.

Until 2022, Dr Kasinskaite-Buddeberg coordinated UNESCO’s activities related to the realization of human rights to provide access to multilingual information and knowledge, with particular focus on socially vulnerable groups. Her work was centered on the implementation of the international normative instruments, providing policy and technical advice, intellectual leadership in the implementation of targeted initiatives, research and capacity building.

Since 2017, she coordinated the preparation, organization and follow-up of the 2019 International Year of Indigenous Languages and the organization of the International Decade of Indigenous Languages (IDIL2022-2032). She was also responsible for the development of the Global Action Plan for Making a Decade of Action for Indigenous Languages. She has also coordinated several projects related to the promotion of multilingualism in cyberspace and the application of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) to lesser-used and endangered languages. She was instrumental in the conceptual and methodological development of the UNESCO World Atlas of Languages. She also coordinated the implementation of the international normative instrument entitled "Recommendation concerning the Promotion and Use of Multilingualism and Universal Access to Cyberspace" (UNESCO, 2003) and other major flagship projects.

Between 2009 and 2020, she also coordinated programmes and projects related to the digital inclusion of Persons with Disabilities within the context of the implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (2006). She led UNESCO's actions in the area of Media and Information Literacy, including the development of the Global Assessment Framework for country readiness and teacher competencies.

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