Joseph Nhan-O’Reilly is an expert in education, contributing to the progress of UNESCO’s fight for education to be recognised as a human right through his role as Board Member for the UK National Commission. He works to improve child literacy, access to books, education in emergencies and the quality of refugee education.
Joseph is an education specialist, with two decade’s worth of experience working internationally and extensive knowledge on the role of education in human rights campaigns. He has lived and worked in Asia, Africa and the Caribbean, with the former in his capacity as the Head of Education Policy & Advocacy at Save the Children, the world’s largest independent children’s rights organisation. He was elected to represent civil society on the new board of the Global Partnership for Education (GPE) and chaired the Strategy and Policy Committee where he oversaw a range of important developments including a new funding window for countries in crisis and the Partnership’s first gender equality policy and strategy.
Joseph was also a key member of the design team for Education Cannot Wait, the world’s first global fund for education in emergencies, where he served on its Executive Committee. He is the founding Chair of the Global Book Alliance, a multi-stakeholder initiative working to transform book development, procurement and distribution to ensure that no child is without books and has co-chaired the preparatory committee for the High-Level Meeting on Action for Refugee Education at the 2018 UN General Assembly. Amongst other achievements, Joseph has also Directed the Promising Practices in Refugee Education initiative and held various leadership roles in the education sector in the UK; including within Send My Friend to School, the umbrella body for UK based civil society organisation’s working on education globally.
