Lidia Brito was appointed UNESCO Assistant Director-General for Natural Sciences in 2023. As forest engineer with a Master’s and Doctorate in Forest and Wood Science from Colorado State University-USA, she has been part of Eduardo Mondlane University’s staff since her graduation in Forest Engineering in 1981.
Born in Mozambique, she has held senior positions in Mozambique such as Head of the Forestry Department from the Faculty of Agronomy (1997-1998), Vice-Rector for Academic Affairs of Eduardo Mondlane University (1998-2000), Minister for Higher Education, Science and Technology (2000-2005), and Advisor for Strategic Planning and External Relations of the Mayor of Maputo City (2005-2008).
She joined UNESCO in November 2009 as Director for Science Policy and Sustainable Development and in 2014 she was appointed UNESCO Regional Director for Sciences in Latin America and the Caribbean region (Montevideo). In 2022, she became Director of the UNESCO Multisectoral Regional Office for Southern Africa in Harare (Zimbabwe) and UNESCO Representative for Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe.