After over four years as Director (July 1 2000 to November 1 2004), Mr. Armoogum Parsuramen has turned over the driving seat of BREDA to Mme Lalla Aïcha Ben Barka. The official turning over ceremony was held on Thursday October 28, 2008 in the conference room of BREDA.

Elegantly dressed in traditional Senegalese attire, Mr. Parsuramen thanked members of personnel for the good collaboration that had marked his mission. He indicated that BREDA once had a glorious past, namely during the seventies, and he hoped to have contributed, at his best, in rekindling the flame. Presenting his successor, he reassured personnel about the competence and experience of the new director while committing himself to the promotion of BREDA’s interests within the framework of his new job as Secretary of the Executive Council of UNESCO in Paris. He finally expressed his gratitude to the President of the Republic of Senegal, M. Abdoulaye Wade, to Prime Minister Macky Sall and all the Senegalese authorities who contributed to the smooth execution of his mission in Senegal.

M. Armoogum Pasuramen began his international career at UNESCO as Representative of Mauritius on the Executive Council (1996- 1996), he later served at the World Bank (1996-1997), first as Consultant and then as Education Policy Adviser and Coordinator of the Bank’s component of the United Nations Special Initiative for Africa. He joined UNESCO Secretariat in July 1998 as Acting Director of the Education Sector and was later confirmed to the post on July 1, 1999.

Previously to her new assignment at BREDA, Mrs. Ben Barka was Deputy Executive Secretary of the UN Economic Commission for Africa (ANECA). She also served as Head of Adult Education and Literacy Division of the Direction Nationale de l’Alphabétisation et de la Linguistique Appliquée (DNAFLA) in Mali from 1980 to 1990. From 1990 to 1993, she was Regional Coordinator for the Association de Coopération et de Recherche pour le Développement (ACORD) in West and Central Africa. Between 1993 to 1996, Mrs. Ben Barka was also Regional Coordinator for the Education Research Network for West and Central Africa (ERNWACA).