Silvia Testa

Silvia Testa is an education specialist with a focus on inclusion. In September 2025, she joined the UNESCO International Institute for Educational Planning (IIEP) team in Africa based in Dakar (Senegal) to coordinate the "Planning for Inclusive Education Regional Program in West Africa," funded by the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation (AICS).

She has over 15 years' experience in designing and managing development projects with a strong specialization in inclusive education. Before joining UNESCO-IIEP, Silvia was involved in promoting gender equality and inclusion in and through education with UNICEF in the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Central African Republic where she coordinated an intersectoral pilot project to promote girls' education and a pilot project on inclusive education, respectively.

In addition, she has several years of teaching experience in Italy with a particular focus on inclusive education, especially for students with special educational needs as well as more than a decade of experience in the field of development cooperation in Africa (Senegal, Cameroon, Chad, Côte d'Ivoire, Burundi) on behalf of German cooperation (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit, GIZ).

Silvia holds master's degrees in school management in a multicultural context (University of Bergamo, Italy), local development (University of Paris I - Panthéon La Sorbonne, France), and in communication sciences/journalism (University of Padua, Italy) and a Primary School Teacher's Diploma.