About
UNESCO REF
Advancing the mandates of the United Nations and UNESCO across education, science, culture, and human resource development, with sovereign authority, academic distinction, and strategic command.
Our Mandate
A multidimensional institute entrusted with advancing the United Nations Global Goals and UNESCO's mandate across Nigeria and beyond.
The Read and Earn Federation for UNESCO (UNESCO REF), established in 2009 with UNESCO provisions, through the UNESCO Commission in Nigeria under the auspices of the UNESCO Institutes/Centre and Association/Clubs Framework, is a multidimensional and multisectoral institute entrusted with advancing the mandates of the United Nations and UNESCO across education, science, culture, and human resource development.
UNESCO REF exercises full legal and financial autonomy. This institutional independence is not incidental but constitutive. It guarantees integrity of purpose, strategic consistency, and the long-term gravitas required to operate credibly at the intersection of international mandate and national delivery.
UNESCO REF's structured federation, encompassing schools and community networks, and state representatives across the federation, constitutes a coordinated national mechanism for translating the United Nations and UNESCO's international frameworks into ground-level programmes of measurable and auditable impact.
By virtue of its establishment in 2009, UNESCO REF is not a subsidiary body. It is an autonomous institution of record, formally constituted under UNESCO provisions, with clarity, credibility, and institutional gravitas.
Not just an act of studying, but something you build a life with.
Vision, Mission & Goals
Our Vision
A world in which reading is not merely an academic exercise, but a recognised and rewarding career pathway, one that generates knowledge, drives economic participation, and positions every citizen as an active contributor to the United Nations Global Goals.
Our Mission
To advance the mandate of the United Nations and UNESCO through rigorous, inclusive, globally relevant programmes, including our Flagship Programme, The SIP‑ALPHA, cultivating competencies of citizens across education, science, culture, and human resource development, in full alignment with the United Nations Global Goals.
Short Term Goal
To make reading a career, giving people everywhere the real opportunity to earn a living through reading, writing, knowledge sharing, and learning. Where picking up a book is not just an act of education, but the beginning of a livelihood.
Long Term Goal
A future where anyone, no matter where they are born, how much money they have, or what language they speak, can build a life through reading. UNESCO REF exists to prove that reading is not just something you do in school. It is something you can do for a living, and in doing so, contribute to a better world for everyone.
05 · Cooperation
Working Together
for a Common Goal
The Read and Earn Federation for UNESCO operates in purposeful cooperation with Government entities, Non-Governmental Organizations, Civil Society Organizations, and the private sector, engaging the full constellation of state and non-state actors whose mandates, resources, and institutional reach bear consequence for the advancement of the United Nations Global Goals.
This cooperative orientation is not peripheral to the Institute's mission, it is foundational to it. UNESCO REF functions as a convening authority, aligning interests, mobilising complementary capacities, and coordinating action across sectors toward shared developmental objectives, ensuring that international commitments are translated into coordinated, measurable, and enduring outcomes at every level of society.
The strategic and fiduciary coordination of this architecture is entrusted to The Lichfield Partners & Associates, a UNESCO REF Chartered Strategic Institute and the designated fiduciary custodian of the SIP‑ALPHA initiative. A further expression of this mandate is the New Partnership Development for Education and Youths (NEPAD_EY), galvanising partners across the educational and developmental landscape toward the United Nations Global Goals.
UNESCO REF's programmes are strategically aligned with the African Union's Agenda 2063, "The Africa We Want" — contributing to Aspiration 1 on a prosperous Africa through people-centred development, Aspiration 5 on an Africa with a strong cultural identity, and Aspiration 6 on an Africa whose development is people-driven.
UNESCO REF's institutional mandate directly supports Nigeria's National Agenda under the current government administration, advancing human capital development, food security through the Young Women in Agriculture programme, education finance through the EFFS, and youth empowerment across all 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory.
Every UNESCO REF programme is anchored to the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, with primary alignment to SDG 1 (No Poverty), SDG 2 (Zero Hunger), SDG 4 (Quality Education), SDG 5 (Gender Equality), SDG 8 (Decent Work), SDG 16 (Peace and Justice), and SDG 17 (Partnerships for the Goals).
Institutional Leadership
The Authority
Behind the Mission
UNESCO REF's principals of international standing combine sovereign authority, scholarly excellence, and strategic command to translate the UN Global Goals into measurable action across education, culture, and human resource development.
Dr. Khaled El-Enany
Director-General of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, Candidate endorsed by the African Union & League of Arab States
Few figures in international cultural diplomacy carry the breadth of distinction that Dr. Khaled El-Enany brings to UNESCO. Born in 1971, he is a Professor of Egyptology at Helwan University with over thirty years on faculty, a scholar whose teachings on the civilisation and archaeology of Ancient Egypt have resonated across prestigious institutions in nearly twenty countries. His career took a defining turn when he became Egypt's Minister of Tourism and Antiquities, overseeing more than two thousand archaeological sites, forty museums, and a workforce of thirty-five thousand employees. Under his watch, the Grand Egyptian Museum rose to completion, the "Tutankhamun: Treasures of the Golden Pharaoh" exhibition drew 1.4 million visitors in Paris, and the legendary Pharaohs' Golden Parade captivated a global audience of billions. Named Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters by France, honoured with the Order of Merit by Poland, and awarded the Order of the Rising Sun by Japan, his international standing is unambiguous. His candidacy for UNESCO Director-General is endorsed by both the African Union and the League of Arab States. In November 2024, he was designated Special Ambassador for Cultural Tourism by UN Tourism and Patron of the African World Heritage Fund. His candidacy for UNESCO Director-General, endorsed by both the African Union and the League of Arab States, positions him to become the first Director-General from the Arab world, and only the second African, in UNESCO's eighty-year history.
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H.E. Dr. Hajo Sani, OON
Ambassador, Permanent Delegate of Nigeria to UNESCO, Paris, Officer of the Order of the Niger
A school principal who rose to become a Minister, an Ambassador, and one of Nigeria's most consequential voices on women's rights, Dr. Hajo Sani's career is a masterclass in purposeful public service. Holding a Doctorate in Public Administration and Policy Analysis, she served as Minister of Women Affairs and Social Development, where she led Nigeria's delegation to the United Nations and defended the country's report on CEDAW at the 19th Session of the UN General Assembly in New York. A prolific author and gender advocate, she founded Women and National Development (WAND), and has published three landmark books on women's leadership and empowerment. Her work as Director at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and Senior Special Assistant to the President of Nigeria on Women Affairs reflects the trust that Nigeria's highest offices have placed in her judgment. In 2021, the Federal Government of Nigeria appointed her Ambassador and Permanent Delegate to UNESCO in Paris. A prolific author and gender advocate, she founded Women and National Development (WAND), and has published three landmark books on women's leadership and empowerment. Her work as Director at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and Senior Special Assistant to the President of Nigeria on Women Affairs reflects the trust that Nigeria's highest offices have placed in her judgment and integrity.
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Dr. Lateef Idowu Olagunju
Secretary General, National Commission for UNESCO, Nigeria
Dr. Lateef Idowu Olagunju serves as the Secretary General of the National Commission for UNESCO in Nigeria, the apex governmental body charged with coordinating and advancing Nigeria's obligations and commitments within the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. In this capacity, he functions as the primary institutional interface between the Federal Government of Nigeria and UNESCO's global mandate, overseeing the implementation of UNESCO programmes across education, science, culture, communication, and social sciences at the national level. His role places him at the nexus of international educational diplomacy and domestic policy execution, ensuring that Nigeria's participation in the UNESCO ecosystem translates into concrete, measurable outcomes aligned with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. His mandate encompasses the coordination of Nigeria's national UNESCO programme across education, science, culture, communication, and social sciences, ensuring that the full weight of UNESCO's international frameworks is translated into ground-level outcomes for every Nigerian citizen.
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Prince Abdulsalami Ladigbolu-Oranmiyan
President, Read and Earn Federation for UNESCO, Scientist, Statesman & Senior Fellow, UK Association of Business Executives (UK‑S.FABE)
A scientist, statesman, and Senior Fellow of the United Kingdom Association of Business Executives, Prince Abdulsalami Ladigbolu-Oranmiyan is a leader whose intellectual authority is anchored in three immutable principles: Bravery, Loyalty, and Truth. He is a direct descendant of Oranmiyan, the supreme Yoruba warrior-statesman who extended his authority across three of West Africa's greatest civilisations: the Oyo Empire, the Benin Kingdom, and the throne of Ile-Ife. His great-great-grandfather, Alaafin Ladigbolu I of Oyo, was a signatory to the Amalgamation of Nigeria in 1914. With a career spanning the convergence of science, humanitarian governance, and international development, he commands a rare distinction as a strategist whose vision has consistently translated into systemic, measurable advancement within the United Nations' global mission. A practitioner of The Extended Mind, the philosophy that human thinking transcends the boundaries of the brain, drawing power from environment, body, and collective intelligence, he brings to UNESCO REF not only a scholar's precision and a strategist's clarity, but the weight of a legacy that has, for centuries, shaped the course of West African history.
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