UNESCO Madanjeet Singh Chairs

UNESCO Madanjeet Singh Chairs are positions that promote tolerance and non-violence through education and other means. They are part  UNESCO's mandate of  "Building peace in the minds of men and women".


How do UNESCO Madanjeet Singh Chairs work?

The Chairs contribute to UNESCO's madate at each stage, from exploring emerging issues to implementing policy recommendations, the Chairs act as think tanks that bridge academia, civil society, local communities, research, and policymakers. 

UNESCO Madanjeet Singh Chairs

• UNESCO Madanjeet Singh Chair on promoting tolerance and non-violence in Chile and Latin America through education: This chair is held by Professor Francisco Javier Estévez Valencia,  co-laureate of the 2014 edition of the UNESCO Madanjeet Singh Prize for Tolerence and Non Violence. The Chair was innaugurated on 3  October 2017 and established at the Metropolitan University of Educational Sciences in Santiago de Chile (UME, Chile) in the presence of France Marquet, Principal Trustee of the Madanjeet Singh Foundation. The Chair aims to contribute to fostering a culture of inclusion, rights and citizenship, and to strengthen the values of tolerance and non-violence at universities and higher education institutions, including teacher training institutions, in Chile and Latin America. The Chairholder, Professor Francisco Javier Estévez Valencia,  Historian and the Executive Director of the Museum of Human Rights and Memory in Chile, he started his non-violent struggle for human rights and democracy during the years of the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet and became one of the well-known leaders of the democratic resistance of young Chileans.

• UNESCO Chair on Indigenous Cultural Heritage and Sustainable Development at the University of Calicut This chair is held by Dr. E. Pushpalatha. It is established on 18 June 2021 for studies and research on indigenous language and knowledge systems to contribution to the endeavours of cultural conservation of indigenous communities essential for world’s cultural heritage. The mission of the proposed Chair on Indigenous Cultural Heritage and Sustainable Development is to attain excellence in academic quality, scholarly engagement, leadership, cultural enrichment and heritage and also the service of the tribal population of Kerala and the Union Territory of Lakshadweep, which comes under the jurisdiction of the State of Kerala. The Proposed chair has an interdisciplinary focus that also recognizes the diversity of tribal communities, culture, and languages. As the proposed chair intends to include the students and research scholars from tribal communities who have graduated from the tribal institutes like Institute of Tribal Studies and Research (ITSR), the chair will ensure the teaching and research works conducted correspond to the culture of tribal communities in Kerala. The academic collaborations that Calicut University has already made with the individuals, institutions, and the various indigenous communities in Kerala as part of its remote tribal educational projects would help take account of the indigenous communities concerned in molding the modus operandi of the proposed chair.

• UNESCO Madajeet Singh Chair on Sustainable Water Resources Management in South Asia at the University of Moratuwa (UMCSAWM): The Chair is held by Prof. Lalith Rajapakse. The Inauguration ceremony was  held on November 24, 2023  and was graced by Mr. Timothy Curtis, Director of UNESCO. The event witnessed the presence of UMCSAWM Vice Chancellor, faculty members, MSF Trustees, SAF Chairpersons, and the team from SAF-India and SAF Sri Lanka. The UNESCO Chair, based at UMCSAWM, is a collaborative initiative with UNESCO to advance knowledge and practices related to sustainable water resources management in South Asia. The partnership formalization was celebrated through an agreement signed between the Director-General of UNESCO and the University of Moratuwa, designating it as the hosting institution for the UNESCO Chair. The Chair is positioned within the Department of Civil Engineering at UMCSAWM, serving as a dedicated teaching and research unit. The brainchild of the Founding Director of UMCSAWM, Prof. N. T. Sohan Wijesekera. This prestigious acknowledgement reflects SAF's unwavering commitment to training professional engineers as the region's foremost water managers. The establishment of the UNESCO Chair signifies a pivotal step towards addressing common water challenges in South Asia and promoting sustainable water resource management practices.
  
  

• UNESCO Chair on Renewable and Clean Energy for Sustainable Development at UMSGET ( UNESCO Madanjeet Singh School of Green Engery and Technologies), DGET, Pondicherry University: This UNESCO Chair is held by Prof. Arun Prasath. The Inauguration ceremony was  held on 10 December, 2024  and was graced by Mr. Timothy Curtis, Director of UNESCO. The event witnessed the presence of Professor K. Tharanikkarasu, Acting Vice-Chancellor, Madam France Marquet, Principal Trustee, MSF, and esteemed officials of Pondicherry University. The UNESCO Chair firmly commits to providing intellectual knowledge and professional training to promote renewable energy in South Asia and globally for sustainable development and to work with governments, schools, colleges, universities, industries, NGOs, businesses, researchers, technology developers and environmentally conscious individuals working towards the promotion/development of renewable energy technologies for sustainable development.

• UNESCO Chair Investiture Ceremony at Madanjeet Singh Institute of South Asian(UMISAA), BNU: Pioneering Inclusion through Art in Pakistan:  This UNESCO Chair is held by Professor Rashid Rana. The inauguration ceremony was held on 13 December 2024 at UMISAA, MDSVAD, BNU. The event featured key addresses by esteemed leaders, including the Chairperson of BNU's Board of Governors, Mrs. Nasreen Mahmud Kasuri, and the Vice Chancellor of BNU, Dr. Moeed W. Yusuf. The Chairholder, Professor Rashid Rana, an internationally celebrated artist and academic, shared insights into the Chair's mission and objectives. Adding an international perspective, Dr. Cristina Menegazzi, an International Expert on Culture and Heritage from UNESCO, also addressed the gathering. The event featured a video message by Madame France, Trustee of the Madanjeet Singh Foundation, a vital supporter of this initiative, emphasizing the Chair's global importance.
  
  A special highlight of the ceremony was a panel conversation led by Associate Professor Rohma Khan, who served as the Director of Programs for the UNESCO Chair. The discussion delved into the Chair's vision of fostering regional collaboration, expanding the idea of transdisciplinary creative practices, and advancing research and inclusive education in the arts. Additionally, The event also included a tour of the exhibition: Atlas of Everywhere at SVAD, curated by Prof. Risham Syed and Aarish Sardar, with co-curation by Waleed Zafar and curatorial advisory from Prof. Rashid Rana. The exhibition explored a dynamic dialogue between the tangible and the infinite in our ever-evolving contemporary world.
  
  This UNESCO Chair, established under the UNITWIN/UNESCO Chairs Programme, underscores BNU’s commitment to advancing education, research, and community engagement in the arts, focusing on inclusion and sustainability. The Chair aims to create opportunities for interdisciplinary learning, foster creative collaborations across South Asia, and advocate for practices that benefit diverse and underrepresented communities.

Related award  The UNESCO-Madanjeet Singh Prize for the Promotion of Tolerance and Non-Violence