Gabriela Ramos

Gabriela Ramos (born April 8, 1964) is a Mexican economist, diplomat and international civil servant. In 2020 she was appointed Assistant Director-General for Social and Human Sciences at UNESCO.

Biography
Ramos graduated with a bachelor's degree in international relations from the Universidad Iberoamericana and received a master's degree in public policy at the Harvard Kennedy School. She is married to Ricardo López, with whom she has two daughters, Paula and Julia.

Career
Ramos held various positions in the Mexican government, including the Director of Economic Affairs and the OECD in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs between 1995 and 1998. Between 1998 and 2000, she was a founding partner of Portico, a public policy consultancy.

From 2000 to 2006, she worked as director of the OECD's México Centre. In 2008, Ramos was appointed Cabinet Director of the Secretary-General of the OECD, José Ángel Gurría. In 2008, she was also appointed as the OECD's Sherpa for the G20, G7, and APEC. At the OECD, she led the organization's "Inclusive Growth" initiative and the "New Approaches for Economic Growth" (NAEC) initiative.

In 2020, UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay appointed Ramos as Assistant Director-General for Social and Human Sciences.

Her tenure has been marked by a strong focus on human rights and fighting economic and social inequalities. Since her nomination, some of the most salient initiatives she undertook include:

- Drafting and supervising the adoption by UNESCO's 193 member countries of the Recommendation on the Ethics of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in November 2021. This text is the first standard-setting instrument aimed at providing an ethical framework for the development of AI that has achieved consensus on a global scale. By July 2024, the principles established by the Recommendation were being implemented in the institutional and legal frameworks of more than 60 countries, thanks to the Readiness Assessment Method (RAM), also developed under Gabriela Ramos’ leadership. In May 2024, Chile launched its National AI Policy and a draft law based on the recommendations made by UNESCO in its report on the country's state of readiness. The adoption of the UNESCO Recommendation has also been followed by the development of a network of experts and initiatives comprising leading players in the AI field, ranging from the Global AI Ethics and Governance Observatory to the Business Council for AI Ethics, of which several industry giants such as Microsoft, Salesforce and Telefonica are members.

- The annual organization of the Global Forum against Racism and Discrimination.

- Revitalising the Management of Social Transformations Programme (MOST), which brings together academics and decision-makers to improve public policies aimed at tackling inequalities and other trends impacting our societies, including the organization of the first editions of the MOST Forum.

Other activities

 * Member of the Steering Committee of the Paris Peace Forum.
 * Member of the Steering Committee of the Lancet COVID-19 Commission and the Lancet Commission on Gender-Based Violence and Maltreatment of Young People.
 * Member of the G7 Gender Equality Advisory Council (GEAC).

Recognition and awards
In 2013, she was awarded the Order of Merit in the Chevalier degree by the French President, François Hollande.

She received the 2017 Forbes Awards for Excellence in Management. Apolitical listed her among the 100 most significant figures in gender politics.