Naciye Selin Senocak
As the Chair Holder for UNESCO for Cultural Diplomacy, Governance and Education, I am responsible for ensuring comprehensive management of the UNESCO strategies. In this role I seek to establish and promote academic research, programs and practices across countries and disciplines to encourage inter-cultural dialogue.
I am passionate about promoting humanity’s future and sustainable development towards peace in line with the organisational goals where I collaborate with scientists and diplomats across the World to improve higher education systems, sustainable development and intercultural dialogue.
In my career I have managed and acted as the Executive and Academic Director for the Centre d’Etudes Diplomatiques et Strategiques and successfully led the EPFL (Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne)in Executive Education and Postgraduate Programs as the Head of Department and Deputy Dean.
As the Professor of International Relations and Diplomacy, I work to improve performance through a coordinated and collaborative approach with a clear focus on inter-cultural and inter-religious dialogue, promoting cultural investment, and education.
The empowerment of women is the empowerment of the humanity for the sustainable development.
Denis de Rougemont stated: “The decadence of a society starts when people ask What is going to become of me? instead of What can I do?"
Therefore I decided to create the Black Sea Women Association for Sustainable Development (KARAD) in Turkey for the empowerment of rural women. It has more than 260 members across the region.
Rural women are key agents for development. They play a catalytic role towards achievement of transformational economic, environmental and social changes required for sustainable development. But unfortunately even in our day , limited access to credit, health care and education are among the many challenges they face.
Empowering them is essential, not only for the well-being of individuals, families and rural communities, but also for overall economic productivity, given women’s large presence in the agricultural workforce worldwide.
While many rural women, especially small landholders and heads of household, depend on subsistence agriculture, they continue to have limited access to land, water, fertiliser and seeds, credit, and training. This discrimination not only makes their role in food production much harder than it should be; it violates their basic human rights and threatens our collective food security.
For all these kind of reasons we must enforce and protect the rights of rural women. When women have access to land, there are improvements in household welfare, agricultural productivity and gender equality and a model for the next coming generation.
"By striving to do the impossible, we can always achieve the possible. Muse is a source of inspiration for making the impossible possible."
Traditional bio:
Associate Professor Naciye Selin Senocak is Political Scientist, Chair Holder of UNESCO Cultural Diplomacy, Governance and Education, Director of the Diplomatic and Strategic Studies Center and President of KARAD (BlackSea Women Association for Sustainable Development).
She served as Deputy Dean at Ecole Polytechnique de Lausanne - EPFL (Swiss Federal İnstitute of Technology) She was the Founding Director of Occidental Studies Applied Research Center at IAU. Visiting professor at Azerbaijan Diplomatic Academy(ADA) and ETHZ (Swiss Federal Instıtute of Technology Zurich). She graduated from Ecole des Hautes Etudes Internationales, where she obtained her PhD’s degree on International Relations, Strategy and Diplomacy. She studied at Sciences-Po Paris, Université de la Sorbonne and CNAM Paris/ParisTech.
A passionate and dynamic leader in International Relations and Diplomacy and the Chair of UNESCO Cultural Diplomacy, Governance an Education. An experienced Associate Professor who possesses an exceptional track record in University and Academic Research while simultaneously utilising this platform to promote peace, diplomacy and education internationally. She focuses her academic career and research studies on cultural diplomacy and implementation of educational system in emerging countries. Senocak, teaches, publishes, and organizes initiatives in the field of cultural diplomacy, western studies, sustainable development with a focus on intercultural dialogue between Western and Muslim countries. Actively encourages a high performing environment that fosters innovation and excellence.
